COPENHAGEN, Denmark (CN) — A handful of North Sea neighbors have signed an agreement to streamline operations of autonomous ships in the sea, the Norwegian Ministry of Industry and Fisheries stated in a press release on Friday.
The agreement — between Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Norway — will standardize requirements placed on autonomous vessels sailing in the North Sea. With international regulations still pending for the emerging market, the five countries will set their own technological standards.
Additionally, the countries committed to sharing knowledge with the goal of developing autonomous shipping technology. That could benefit maritime infrastructure in the North Sea, such as offshore wind farms.
“This collaboration can help to establish a new international market for the Norwegian maritime industry," Marianne Sivertsen, Norway’s minister of Fisheries and Oceans, said. "The Norwegian maritime industry is far ahead in the development of autonomous solutions."
Similar to self-driving cars, autonomous vessels can function independently based on artificial intelligence and continuous collection of data. Like self-driving cars, they're manned by operators who control and monitor the ships and intervene if they sail into complications at sea.
Guided by a person sitting in front of a screen in a control room on land, autonomous ships can deliver cargo between nations and continents without a crew. This setup could fundamentally change how maritime vessels are designed and built. Smaller ships — such as those with no need for crew space, for example — require less fuel, resulting in a reduced carbon footprint.
The global autonomous ships market had revenues of more than $89 million USD in 2021. That number is projected to annually grow by 6.81% through 2031, according to Straits Research, a global market research and consulting company.
With the agreement, Norway aims to secure its pole position in the autonomous shipping industry. The technology has taken off in recent years amid worldwide competition, with huge potential for economic gain.
Some of the vessels don't use fossil fuels at all. Already, autonomous ships fueled by electricity are delivering cargo between Norwegian cities.
Kongsberg Maritime, a Norwegian tech firm, estimates the ships could bring big savings, including on energy usage. The company is currently operating two autonomous vessels across the Oslo fjord in Norway. Each trip takes less than an hour, cutting around two million kilometers (around 1.2 million miles) worth of drive times and saving 5000 metric tons (5511 tons) of CO2 a year.
As Norway sails ahead, other nations are catching wind of what is likely to become the future of the maritime industry.
On the other side of the globe, South Korea launched its first containership for autonomous operations in March and aims to demonstrate long-distance autonomous shipping later this year, the U.S. trade magazine Maritime Executive reported.
Back in 2022, the Japanese autonomous containership Suzaku also completed an 800-kilometer, 497-mile journey through the traffic-congested Tokyo Bay.
Assisted by an AI system, the ship completed 99% of the 40-hour-long trip without human intervention. By itself, it was able to make 107 maneuvers to avoid collisions, the Danish trade magazine Ingeniøren reported.
The U.S. Navy has also successfully tested unmanned ships. In addition, Boston-based Sea Machine in 2021 tested small autonomous ships off the Danish coast, touting its tech as ready for long-distance voyages.
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