Advances in maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) in merchant shipping

摘要

Autonomous technologies have already been implemented successfully in several contexts such as container terminal operations, manufacturing systems, warehouse operations, transportation etc. In the transportation industry, Tesla pioneered self-driving cars with the autopilot function, diver-less metro-rail services functioning smoothly in the city of Copenhagen, while most airplanes fly on autopilot mode except for landing and take-off. Seaborne transportation is a rather latecomer in the autonomous technology scene. From a design and implementation perspective, maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) is of course feasible, largely due to the presence of fewer physical objects (e.g., other vessels) in the high seas. Although, physical objects increase significantly when a ship is approaching a port, or it sails in coastal areas, they can still be dealt with through the implementation of advanced collision avoidance algorithms.