MUNIN - Maritime Unmanned Navigation through Intelligence in Networks
Overview
Background & policy context:
Maritime transport within the EU faces challenges such as significant increases in transport volumes, growing environmental requirements and a shortage of seafarers in the future. The concept of the autonomous ship brings along the potential to overcome these challenges. It allows for more efficient and competitive ship operation and increases in the environmental performance of vessels. Furthermore the shore based approach offers “seafaring” the possibility to become more socially sustainable by reducing the time seafarers spend away from their families.
Objectives:
MUNIN aims to develop an autonomous ship concept, which is described according to the Waterborne TP Agenda by combination of automated decision systems with remote control via a shore based station. The vision of MUNIN is to show the update possibilities of todays fleet to autonomous vessel. MUNINs results will also provide efficiency, safety and sustainability advantages for existing vessels in short term, without necessitating the use of autonomous ships. This includes e.g. environmental optimization, new maintenance and operational concepts as well as improved bridge applications. Furthermore autonomous ship-models could be an improvement for education purpose in ship simulators.
Methodology:
The specific tasks of the MUNIN project are to:
- Develop the technology concept needed to implement the autonomous and unmanned ship.
- Develop the critical integration mechanisms, including the ICT architecture and the cooperative procedural specifications, which ensure that the technology works seamlessly enabling safe and efficient implementation of autonomy.
- Verify and validate the concept through tests runs in a range of scenarios and critical situations.
- Document and show how this technology, together with new and more centralized operational principles gives direct benefits for non-autonomous ships, e.g., in reduced off-hire due to fewer unexpected technical problems etc.
- Document how legislation and commercial contracts need to be changed to allow for autonomous and unmanned ships.
- Provide an in-depth economic, safety and legal assessment showing how the MUNIN results will impact European shipping competitiveness and safety.
Further MUNIN’s results will provide efficiency, safety and sustainability advantages for existing vessels in short term, without necessitating the use of autonomous ships. This includes e.g. environmental optimization, new maintenance and operational concepts as well as improved bridge applications.
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