e-Navigation: Challenges and Opportunities

e-Navigation is a recent IMO initiative that aims to integrate existing/new shipboard and shore-based navigational tools into an “all embracing” system. Defined as: “... the harmonised collection, integration, exchange, presentation and analysis of maritime information onboard and ashore by electronic means to enhance berth to berth navigation and related services, for safety and security at sea and protection of the marine environment” the goal of e-Navigation is to provide an infrastructure that will enable seamless information transfer onboard ship, between ships, ship-to-shore, and between shore authorities. Core elements include high-integrity electronic positioning, electronic navigational charts (ENCs) and improved system functionality towards reducing human error. In particular, this means actively engaging the mariner in the process of navigation while preventing distraction and overburdening. There are two main challenges in going from concept to implementation. 1) Ensuring the availability of all components of the system and using them effectively in order to simplify the display of crucial navigation-related information. 2) Incorporating new technologies in a structured way, while ensuring that their use is compliant with the existing navigational communication technologies and services. To date, the primary focus of IHO Member States has been to complete ENC coverage for major shipping routes. However, e-Navigation has other implications for the hydrographic community, including: 1) Use of AIS binary messages 2) Standards for Displaying e-Navigation Information 3) Guiding Principles for e-Navigation-related Informatio

Paving the way toward autonomous shipping development for European Waters – The AUTOSHIP project

New developments in maritime industry include the design and operation of autonomous ships. The AUTOSHIP project is one initiative promoting the use of autonomous ships in European waters focusing on two specific use cases, a Short Sea Shipping (SSS) cargo vessel and an Inland Waterways (IWW) barge. The AUTOSHIP objectives include thorough regulatory, societal, financial, safety and security analyses for the two investigated use cases as well as the development of a novel framework and methods for the design of autonomous vessels. This objective is achieved with the support of a number of activities, including supply chain, regulatory, risk and gaps analyses. Some results and findings from these activities are presented in this paper. The results demonstrate that the supply chain analysis is important to understand the complex relationships between different partners and phases for the effective design of maritime autonomous systems. Furthermore, a number of regulatory gaps needs to be addressed for the wider adoption of the AUTOSHIP use cases. There is a number of essential hazards associated with each of the two use cases; measures to mitigate these hazards are presented

Collision Avoidance for Autonomous Surface Vessels using Novel Artificial Potential Fields

As the demand for transportation through waterways continues to rise, the number of vessels plying the waters has correspondingly increased. This has resulted in a greater number of accidents and collisions between ships, some of which lead to significant loss of life and financial losses. Research has shown that human error is a major factor responsible for such incidents. The maritime industry is constantly exploring newer approaches to autonomy to mitigate this issue. This study presents the use of novel Artificial Potential Fields (APFs) to perform obstacle and collision avoidance in marine environments. This study highlights the advantage of harmonic functions over traditional functions in modeling potential fields. With a modification, the method is extended to effectively avoid dynamic obstacles while adhering to COLREGs. Improved performance is observed as compared to the traditional potential fields and also against the popular velocity obstacle approach. A comprehensive statistical analysis is also performed through Monte Carlo simulations in different congested environments that emulate real traffic conditions to demonstrate robustness of the approach.Comment: 28 pages, 30 figure

Encoding AIS Binary Messages in XML Format for Providing Hydrographic-related Information

A specification is proposed to enable hydrographic and maritime safety agencies to encode AIS messages using Extensible Markup Language (XML). It specifies the order, length, and type of fields contained in ITU-R.M.1371-1. A XML schema validates the message definitions, and a XSLT style sheet produces reference documentation in \u27html\u27 format. AIS binary messages in XML are an effective means to communicate dynamic and real-time port/waterway information. For example, tidal information can be continuously broadcast to maritime users and applied to a tide-aware ENC. The XML format aligns with the type of data encapsulation planned for the IHO Geospatial Standard for Digital Hydrographic Data (S-100)