Seatrade Maritime News: A growing commercial case for autonomous shipping

Seatrade Maritime News interviewed One sea eco-system lead Päivi Haikkola, who attended Sea Asia 2019 in Singapore. “The case for autonomous ships keeps getting stronger as evidence of its commercial viability gathers pace”, says Haikkola.

The article points out that the main advantage of autonomous ships relates to cost savings especially in fuel consumption with electricity powering more of the propulsion. The greater use of electricity as opposed to fuel also plays a role in reduced emissions as the maritime industry looks toward the global sulphur cap of 0.5% for marine fuels coming into effect next year.

Haikkola explains that another push for autonomous shipping comes from the safety dimension, with the sensors on board to provide greater situational awareness.

The whole Seatrade Maritime News article is available here.