Conceptualization of the era of autonomous shipping within maritime education and training framework

Abstract

The new developments on telecommunications, computing and sensors are triggering the ships to become more autonomous every day. The new projects leading to a fully autonomous way of transport are already building the fleets of the future, involving more efficient, sustainable and safer shipping operations. Against the expectations of the seafarer’s replacement by Artificial Intelligence and the Autonomous Systems, this technological emergence will be the opportunity for new businesses and job creation, which will require highly skilled crews and operators. Maritime Education and Training (MET) should progress towards updating subjects, incorporating new topics and upgrading teaching methodologies in order to develop highly skilled crews and on-shore operators while maintaining compliance with the STCW Convention standards. Previous research has already identified that technology related to autonomy is rarely addressed in the maritime curricula, and that the main gap in the preparation of new training lies in the updated STCW Code. Although some technological and research centres have incorporated concepts related to autonomy in their agenda, its integration has not been widespread across all Maritime Education and Training Institutions. The main objective of this article is to analyse this emerging content in relation to autonomous navigation, machinery systems, cybersecurity and remote-control systems, inter alia. These emerging contents will contribute to the development of a training course designed to establish new educational and proficiency standards to address the implications of this technology. The aim is to achieve a comprehensive conceptualization of the new era of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) within the Maritime Education and Training (MET) framework, facilitating the development and incorporation of MASS into maritime curricula.