More accurate navigation for autonomous vessels
For remotely operated and autonomous ships, certain data must be available on board to determine their precise location and operational path. Simultaneously, this data must be accessible onshore to allow human operators to monitor the vessel’s position and ensure safe operation. For hydrographic offices, this necessitates a shift in data provision to support this hybrid model of ship operations.
A spokesperson from the UKHO explained to Thetius that the challenge is not merely about equipping autonomous vessels with more sensors to detect obstacles; it is also crucial for these vessels to have an accurate baseline understanding of their environment. The vessels must be able to compare real-time sensor data with pre-existing data to confirm that their perceptions align with known environmental conditions. This means that even fully autonomous vessels will still require initial data inputs from hydrographic offices to create a foundational map of their operating environment. Based on this foundational data and ongoing real-time inputs, the vessel operator can make informed decisions, ensuring safe and efficient navigation.
The future of autonomous and remotely operated vessels will likely involve the integration of both sensor data and hydrographic data to enable informed decision making. In the near term, a hybrid model is expected to emerge in which vessels will perform automated tasks while still having human crew members on board. This development will require hydrographic offices to generate enhanced data tailored for advanced on-board systems, while at the same time ensuring that this information remains accessible and digestible for humans on board the vessel.
The importance of machine readable data
An important aspect of S-100 in the future of autonomous shipping is that it will provide data in machine-readable formats that allow for automated processing, data integration, and dynamic updates. This is critical for automation and AI-driven analytics.
The IHO has set up a Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) working group that is exploring the evolving data requirements for MASS. It seeks to establish how the current lack of specific navigational data that is required to drive MASS can be addressed.
For example, S-101 will provide more specific encoding of information such as speed limits, which can be read by systems designed to handle machine-readable data. This means that autonomous ships or advanced decision-support systems can interpret the data and make decisions without requiring a human to visually interpret it.
Claims management
Increased access to high quality data through S-100 is also anticipated to help reduce speed and performance claims, which are often long-winded and costly due to the uncertainty around finding historical weather data at a given time. By providing accurate tidal and weather data for specific times and locations, it will be easier to verify such conditions during a voyage, reducing ambiguity.
In terms of legal disputes, passage planning over the last few years has experienced increased visibility as a result of the CMA CGM Libra case. In May 2011, the vessel left a port in China and grounded just outside of its waters. The master decided to exit the channel and grounded on an uncharted shoal. However, a Temporary and Preliminary (T&P) Notice indicated that depths outside the channel were unreliable. The master chose to leave the channel despite this warning, and the passage plan failed to account for the notice.
With the addition of S-100 data, arguably this scenario could have played out differently. S-100 has the ability to integrate real-time updates such as T&Ps and the water level data (S-104) into the passage plan and display it clearly, reducing the risk of missing information and oversight by the master. In addition, the automatic data logging that comes with S-100 product specifications would have provided a more detailed record of navigational decisions that could have been used as evidence to support the case.
To learn more about the benefits discussed in this article, download our thought leadership report ‘New Waters’, created in partnership with the UK Hydrographic Office. Based on the findings of a comprehensive maritime research project, this report explores the five key steps to supporting the successful adoption of the International Hydrographic Organization’s (IHO) S-100 data framework.
