Abstract:

The rise in the number of successfully implemented projects on autonomous shipping has coincided with the development of technological solutions that allow navigators to achieve situational awareness. This in turn confronts Maritime Education and Training (MET) institutions with the challenge of creating a teaching and learning environment into which these new technologies are integrated.

The work presented in this paper was carried out as part of an ongoing project that involves an investigation of the future competence requirements for navigators on board Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS). A

s competencies result from the handling of the bridge equipment, the following two research questions have been addressed in this study:
(a) What technologies for maritime object detection are foreseen on board an autonomous vessel to support situational awareness?
(b) With what operational and technical challenges will the navigator be confronted in determining situational awareness on board autonomous vessels?

The study was methodologically divided into two parts. A narrative literature review was conducted with a focus on MASS systems that implemented novel object detection technology. The results formed the basis for the development of an agenda for the subsequent systematic literature review. The systematic review includes 49 peer-reviewed studies covering future perception technologies for MASS.

It was found that:
(a) the use of novel technologies such as LiDAR (Light Detecting and Ranging), monocular cameras or infrared cameras is to be expected. However, these will not replace the traditional perception technologies on board. The autonomous system will fuse the data from novel and traditional sensors to perform situational awareness for the navigator. As long as a navigator is in the loop,
(b) they must be able to interpret the decisions made by the autonomous system.

The research results indicate that the interpretation of processed display data from new perception technologies is associated with specific new challenges and downsides. From a targeted comparison with MET curricula, it was possible to see that the contemporary competence requirements are not sufficient for the navigator to interpret all data. However, without future research on the work processes for MASS navigators, specific competence requirements cannot be formulated.

Keywords:

Maritime Traffic, Maritime Autonomous Ships, Remote Control Operator, Remote Operation Centre.