Manycompanies are currentlydevelopingdriverless cars. We have also seen driverless trucks, although they are still in the very early stages of development. It sounds like we will also have autonomous boats in the future. That is simultaneously a very interesting and a scary trend. Self-driving container ships will soon be swarming the oceans, by the look of things.

It is not the first time we have seen companiesexploringthe opportunities provided by driverless boats. There are thousands of cargo ships crossing the oceans at any given time, so automation makes sense. Automation can improve efficiency, productivity, and cut down on overall costs. Less happily, itwill also lead to job cuts if these trials are successful. Suchis the double-edged sword of technology.

Autonomous boats may take longer than many people think. The shipping industry certainly coulddo with some innovation right now, sincethings have not changed all that much over the past few years. Additionally, it seems thatcargo shipshavebeenbeing scrapped a lot sooner than originally assumed, which creates an adverse effect on the industry as a whole. Additionally, company losses due to mismanagement or bankruptcyis a major problem.

If things go according to plan which hardly ever happens we may see the first remotely-operated vessels in operation by 2020. This will only be testing in closed waters rather than exploring the open sea. It will take an additional three to five years until the latter happens. Unmanned ocean vessels will eventually become more common over time, assuming that they can be perfected to some degree in the coming years.

Ships have had autopilot features for quite some time now. Thesefeatures have evolved substantially over the past few years, growing out to become a full-fledged autopilot feature which requires GPS coordinates to work successfully. However, thisis still a far cry from successfully automating travel from one port to another. It appears that will change very soon, and most believe that autonomous shipping is the future of the maritime industry. Smart ships will not necessarily be the same as smartphones, but theirimpacts could be quite similar in the end.

Indeed, some real progress can be made now that thefoundations for autonomous ships are in place. While they may not necessarily be seaworthy please pardon the pun they do exist and are ready to be improved upon. No groundbreaking technology needbe built from the ground up. That will significantly speed up the process of bringing autonomous ships to life. The required sensor technology is commercially available and the algorithms are close to being finished.

The big question remains why we need automated seafaring, or whetherwe do at all. Safety is one reason to explore this option, as are efficiency and cost reduction impacts. With no crew to accommodate, ships can become lighter yetoffer more cargo space at the same time. We may see a major revolution in the way autonomous ships are designed as well.

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Autonomous Boats Will Explore the High Seas by 2025 - The Merkle