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Oz miners see crewless ship interest spike in last 6 months

AUSTRALIA's BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining company, is studying the introduction of automated cargo ships to carry its iron ore and coal, reports Bloomberg.

"Safe and efficient autonomous vessels carrying BHP cargo, powered by BHP gas, is our vision for the future of dry bulk shipping," said company vice president Rashpal Bhatti.

Norwegian fertiliser producer Yara International ASA said it will deploy an autonomous-capable containership on Norway's coast next year and aims to move to remote operation in 2019 and full autonomy a year later.

"Autonomous ships will change the way transport systems are designed and operated," said Ornulf Jan Rodsethp of Sintef, Scandinavia's biggest science and technology research centre.

"If freight users, including BHP, are able to adopt the technology, "you might see that they build a new fleet of special purpose ships that puts the traditional ships and ship operators out of business," said Mr Rodsethp.

BHP, one of the world's largest dry bulk charterers, is seeking partners to work on the technology, said the company website.

Crewless ships could deliver new savings in the US$86 billion a year seaborne iron ore market, mirroring the shift to autonomous trucks to trains that allow fewer staff to remotely operate or monitor multiple vehicles.

BHP, which charters 1,500 voyages a year for around a quarter of a billion tonnes of iron ore, copper and coal, wants to deploy the technology within a decade.

The ultimate plan is having unmanned ships on the 10-day voyages from Australia to China.

IDC Energy Insights analyst Emilie Ditton, of Sydney, said: "There has been a big change in the last six months. There's a much bigger recognition that there are opportunities to innovate across the board."

The UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is considering regulation of autonomous surface ships, said Commodore James Fanshawe (ret) and chairman of Britain's Maritime Autonomous Systems Regulatory Working Group.

A three-year EUR3.8 million (US$4.3 million) project backed by the European Union developed a proposal for an intercontinental bulk carrier and concluded in 2015 that autonomous technology is both feasible and likely to be adopted. China's Maritime Safety Administration is also working on development of uncrewed ships, according to its website.

Rio Tinto Group deploys 76 driverless trucks plans to run autonomous trains in Western Australia by the end of next year. The company sees shipping as among the next set of processes to change.

Rio's marine unit shipped 281 million tonnes of cargo in 2016 and is the largest dry bulk shipping business in the world, operating 17 vessels of its own and contracting a fleet of 200.

An unmanned ocean-going vessel could be on the high seas by 2035, says Rolls-Royce, which has developed a virtual prototype and aims to have remotely controlled coastal vessels in testing in 2020.