The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, through the General Directorate of the Merchant Navy, has organized a technical conference to analyze the technological advances surrounding autonomous ships and address the steps being taken to establish specific training for their operation. Likewise, the need to advance in the development of current regulations in this sector of maritime transport was discussed, while the latest national projects on the subject were addressed.
The II Technical Conference on Autonomous Ships, which took place this Tuesday, November 18, was organized in collaboration with the National Group on Autonomous Ships, which is celebrating five years since its creation.
The event, which was held at Cedex (Center for Studies and Experimentation of Public Works), had almost a hundred attendees in person and was broadcast via streaming. This is an initiative of the Ministry that, in line with the I Technical Conference on Autonomous Ships | Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility held in 2022, aims to disseminate the different actions being carried out in the field of autonomous ships.
Human Factor
The conference was inaugurated by the General Secretary of Air and Maritime Transport, Benito Núñez, who expressed his satisfaction with the advances that have occurred in this sector of maritime transport. As he argued, the use of autonomous ships will be a spur to achieve more sustainable maritime transport, without overlooking that the central axis on which technological innovation must be piloted should continue to be the human factor. The inaugural event was also attended by the General Director of the Merchant Navy, Ana Núñez, and the Director of Cedex, Áurea Perucho.
The conference was designed with four round tables made up of experts in aspects such as training, regulation, projects and technology. In the field of regulation, aspects related to the activity of the National Group on Autonomous Ships and the experience in the application of national regulations applicable to the navigation of autonomous ships and vessels through Spanish maritime spaces were analyzed, including a perspective of the regulation from the viewpoint of classification societies. The latest advances in the international regulation of autonomous ships by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) were also discussed.
Regarding technical aspects, the use of radiocommunication frequencies to be used by autonomous ships, aspects of cybersecurity, cyber protection and machine learning from the perspective of classification societies were addressed. The use of computer tools on autonomous ships to comply with the international regulations for preventing collisions was also debated, and projects on business models and logistics for autonomous ships were presented, as well as some experiences related to the underwater use of autonomous vessels and remote handling.
The training section included topics such as the national qualification for the operation of unmanned surface vessels, university training experiences on autonomous ships from an international perspective, the importance of collision prevention, or the use of algorithms in university teaching.
Likewise, there has been discussion about the experience in using navigation simulators and their implications for teaching and the importance of specific training on autonomous vessels in the field of pilotage.
Finally, in the panel dedicated to projects, information was presented on the most important national projects in the field of autonomous vessels, as well as their progress and future prospects.
