Autonomous ship concept evaluation – Quantification of competitiveness and societal impact

The prospect of large-scale international adoption of autonomous ships has led to
expectations of reduced costs and emissions for waterborne transport of goods. This is
commonly attributed to the possibility of removing manning from the ship, which enables
more efficient ship designs and reduced operational costs. So why have we not seen a
multitude of autonomous ship building projects? There are several reasons for this, including
immature technology and regulations. However, there is another reason which has received less
attention; the lack of quantifiable evidence for the benefits arising from investing in
autonomous ships. There are some case studies on the impact of autonomy on transport cost,
but there is no established method for evaluating the effects of an investment in autonomous
ships. This paper will present Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) developed to enable such
quantification. Furthermore, the developed KPIs are chosen not only to enable quantification of
benefits but also to be calculable based on data which it is reasonable to assume that are
available or obtainable at a concept stage.