Risk analysis for autonomous ships

Research Project, 2020 – 2022

Digitalisation and Internet of Things (IoT) are trends affecting societies and industries. Research and Innovation of more autonomous systems are the consequence of this development, but to ensure safety and reliability of these systems is the biggest challenge.
Little research and innovation work have been performed and published in relation to appropriate risk methodologies to test and ensure safe operation of more autonomous ships, which is crucial for ship-owners prior to investing in new techniques.
The aim of the project is therefore to identify risks related to more autonomous shipping based on ship simulations. The vessel traffic on two end-user routes (Svanesundsleden and Fredrikshamn-Göteborg) will be used for the identification of changed risk levels for more autonomous navigation. This will increase knowledge and provide a risk assessment methodology for the introduction of autonomous vessels to the conventional maritime traffic domain and their impact on maritime traffic safety which allows for more fact-based decision making for future investments of the shipping companies involved in the project.
This research and innovation project will form a risk assessment method that encompasses the technical advances in digitalization and automation in shipping and their impact on maritime traffic safety. The method and results from the use cases support ship-owners and operators in their decision-making process of more advanced ship systems and in their “management of change”.
The expected outcome is a systematic risk identification and assessment methodology for the introduction of smart vessels in the maritime traffic domain. These are based on the two use cases built upon on quantitative and qualitative data from simulations covering the interaction of manned and autonomous ships.