Towards a Framework of Operational-Risk Assessment for a Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship

Cunlong Fan, Jakub Montewka and Di Zhang
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Cunlong Fan: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430063, China
Jakub Montewka: Research Group on Maritime Transportation Risk and Safety, Gdynia Maritime University, Morska 81-87, 81-225 Gdynia, Poland
Di Zhang: National Engineering Research Center for Water Transport Safety, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430063, China

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-12

Abstract: Global research interest in the domain of maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) is dramatically increasing. With new prototypes planned to be set to the seas where various operational modes (OMs) are claimed, the issue of the safety evaluation of an MASS, and criteria for selecting the appropriate OM for given conditions remain open questions. This paper proposes a four-step risk-informed framework to assess risk in a scenario for an MASS operating at one of three OMs: manual control (MC), remote control (RC), and autonomous control (AC). To this end, the concept of risk priority numbers (RPNs), adopted from failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), is utilized. The required parameters to defined RPNs are obtained in the course of analyzing a model MASS accident with expert knowledge. The applicability of the proposed framework is demonstrated via a model MASS case study. Results reveal that, in the same scenario, the risk of MASS varied across the analyzed OMs. On the basis of the aggregated results for each operational mode, suggestions for OM switching are put forward.

Keywords: maritime autonomous surface ship; FMEA; risk assessment; operational modes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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