Operational and economic advantages of autonomous ships and their perceived impacts on port operations

Ismail Kurt () and Murat Aymelek
Additional contact information
Ismail Kurt: İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University
Murat Aymelek: İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University

Maritime Economics & Logistics, 2022, vol. 24, issue 2, No 7, 302-326

Abstract: Abstract Autonomous shipping has been on the agenda of the shipping industry for the last decade, and is now closer to becoming a reality more than ever. Although it is technically possible to automate ships with the developments in autonomous technologies of recent years, the effective use of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) depends on meeting the specific operational needs of shipping. Furthermore, autonomous ships must provide significant economic, environmental, safety, and interoperability advantages for a transition to autonomy to be feasible. This study provides a detailed assessment of the operational improvements, possible impacts, and problems that may arise in the shipping industry with the advent of MASS. In addition to this, we assess the processes that would ensure the realization of autonomous ship–port interoperability. In this context, the study discusses the transition to MASS, taking a variety of factors into account, including the acceptability of MASS, benefits and economic impacts of the transition for the shipping industry, the adaptation of vessel types, MASS–port operational interactions (considering various aspects of port operations), and the role of port authorities. Data were collected using a detailed questionnaire distributed to relevant maritime industry stakeholders. The results of this study highlight the navigational issues facing port areas, and the challenges regarding MASS–port interactions during cargo operations. The findings of this research are expected to assist efforts of successfully implementing autonomous systems in the maritime transport chain.

Keywords: Autonomous shipping; Ship–port interface; Maritime safety; Port operations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41278-022-00213-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:marecl:v:24:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1057_s41278-022-00213-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... nt/journal/41278/PS2

DOI: 10.1057/s41278-022-00213-1

Access Statistics for this article

Maritime Economics & Logistics is currently edited by Hercules E. Haralambides

More articles in Maritime Economics & Logistics from Palgrave Macmillan, International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().