E-NAVIGATION, DIGITALIZATION AND UNMANNED SHIPS: CHALLENGES FOR FUTURE MARITIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The era of digitalization is substantially changing the transportation sector and even the rather conservative maritime domain experiences fundamental changes and wide extensions of their techniques and technologies. Standards, procedures and processes to ensure safety and efficiency of maritime transportation and the marine transportation systems are constantly changing. Each of the different components and sub-systems needs to contribute to safe, efficient and sustainable delivery of goods. Very basically these components and sub-systems are transport means (vessels of various types and sizes), drivers (ship crews) transport paths (open sea, coastal waters etc.) traffic management (e.g. ship reporting and Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) systems) and the organizational components (e.g. IMO, IHO and national administrations).

Until today, even with all merits of automation and technology taken into account, merchant ships are still operated by crews on-board and are monitored and supported from shore-based surveillance and control centers. With the further development of IMO's and IALA's initiative on e-Navigation and its stepwise implementation the technological environment of much more enhanced monitoring and control functions is developing. New technical systems making use of sophisticated IT solutions and allow for new services far beyond pure monitoring.

As a consequence of the technological developments, shore-based monitoring of vessel traffic by VTS is changing. The new component of company-based Fleet Operation Centers (FOC) is becoming part of the system. All support from ashore is provided by communication between human operators on-board and ashore. So far, the relation between the navigators on board and the operators ashore is characterized by the status quo that the shore operator provides additional information and warnings, advice or even recommendation up to instructions. The introduction of unmanned and even autonomous navigating ships will probably change the existing system fundamentally. Present concepts proposing the introduction and operation of unmanned ships usually contain a kind of shore-based control center that monitors the status of such ships and the navigational and technical processes and provides for remote control options in case of its need. The introduction of such transportation systems has various technical, administrative-organizational and human factor related challenges.

In this paper we present investigations and some first preliminary results of a simulation study which researched for the very first time traffic scenarios including conventional manned and future unmanned ships. Simulation trials have been planned, designed and implemented in order to study different equipment options for monitoring and remote controlling unmanned ships navigating in a coastal VTS-monitored area. In this pilot study first trials have been conducted with experienced seafarers and non-experienced personnel from the maritime domain. Indicators have been developed for purposes of analysis and comparison different groups and equipment options. The outcome of these trials will be discussed in the light of evolutionary needs of operators working in control centers and requirements from human operators when remotely operating unmanned ships in areas with conventional traffic. Basic data for contributing to job profiles and training needs to be included in maritime training schemes will be introduced.