Are Autonomous Ships Really Needed?

Are Autonomous Ships Really Needed? – with such a provocative question Kuligowski began the session focused on innovations in the design and operation of ships. Innovation day was dominated by presentations  of Wartsila, Rolls Royce representatives and Matirtime University professors.

 

About innovation in Rolls-Royce informed Andrzej Ujda, Business Development Executive, Rolls Royce and Wärtsilä Smart Marine Ecosystem was presented by Piotr Kabaciński, General Manager, Sales, Wärtsilä Finland.  The scientific analysis of the problem of the safety and risk of autonomous shipping and challenges, solution proposals and research directions is comprehensively presented by prof. eng. Jakub Montewka fromUniwersytet Morski Gdynia. First part of the meeting is finished by presentation of the Connect2SmallPorts Project which is focuses for Small Port of the South Baltic. It  aims at supporting the development of South Baltic small and medium ports by helping them to implement digital solutions informed Christopher Meyer, EU Project Coordinator and Research Associate, Hochschule Wismar, University of Applied Sciences: Technology, Business and Design

Seasion titled “Innovative propulsion’ was started by presentation about innovations in the green propulsion by Andrzej Buczkowski, General Manager, Sales, Cruise & Ferry Segment, Wärtsilä Polska. Interesting  and latest information about ship Intelligence was presented by Piotr Januszewski, Programme Manager Ship Intelligence, Rolls Royce. Coastal LNG Bunkering Vessel solutions and variety of propulsion systems made by Eniram  was presented by Andrew Rayner, Head of Sales North Europe, Wärtsilä Eniram. A well-known Rolls Royce clip about managing autonomous ships was presented by Andrzej Ujda, Business Development Executive, Rolls Royce. As usual, an interesting, colorful and informative presentation about the Future in Shipping presented, prof. eng. cpt. Adam Weintrit, Maritime University. excellent presentation caused a lively discussion on the future of autonomous ships. Conference participants agreed that unmanned ships are an irreversible trend in the development of maritime transport in the era of industry 4.0