Ms Skopec will discuss the complex regulatory, legal and operational issues surrounding MASS technology in the United States, exploring the opportunities and challenges associated with the integration of autonomous ships into the existing maritime framework. This presentation aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state and future trajectory of autonomous ships, offering valuable insights for stakeholders navigating this rapidly evolving sector of the maritime industry.

From object detection systems to route optimization algorithms, machine learning (ML) technologies are transforming autonomous and smart shipping. BV M&O introduces a guidance note, set to be published by mid-2025, providing recommendations on the assessment of machine learning systems in the maritime and offshore industries. Aligned with ISO standards, the European AI Act, and the Assessment List for Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (ALTAI), the guidance note emphasizes principles such as human oversight, transparency, explainability, robustness, safety and accuracy. Key topics are presented, including risk management, data governance, ML development and deployment and governance throughout the ML lifecycle.

This presentation introduces ClassNK's revised guidelines, which were published this year. Firstly, it provides an overview of the revised guidelines, which expand on the main part and specify detailed requirements for autonomous navigation systems (ANS) in the annex. The annex additionally describes safety evaluation methods using simulation techniques for fundamental ANS functions. The presentation then explains one such method in detail, focusing on the evaluation of the maneuvering control function. It introduces the method detail, including the creation of simulation scenarios, the requirements for the mathematical manoeuvering model and the performance indicators.

DNV has developed a qualification process for autonomous and remotely operated vessels and systems to ensure an equivalent level of safety as for conventional vessels. This is applied in the new DNV AROS class notations. As the novel technologies and concepts create new and different risks, DNV employs a risk-based verification process, considering human factors and remote operations centers among other aspects, including new verification methods. As technologies mature and experience is gathered, rules and standards will develop and become more detailed and specific. Going forward, collaboration across the maritime industry is essential to achieve the safety objectives for autonomous ships.

As autonomous shipping advances, reliable and efficient voice communication remains a challenge. This presentation will showcase a domain-specific multilingual maritime speech recognizer that has been enhancing maritime operations by transcribing and processing VHF radio communications. Expanding on this, a new concept for autonomous vessels has been designed to enable AI-driven voice interaction, supporting seamless ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication. By integrating advanced maritime speech recognition with technologies like text-to-speech and natural language processing, this innovation has the potential to create a more connected and responsive communication framework between autonomous and crewed vessels, enhancing both safety and efficiency.

The marine industry, a key pillar of the national economy, must advance toward digitalization and intelligence. Reliable, high-speed, cost-effective wireless communication is critical for enabling applications like unmanned ships, offshore industries and smart oceans. This presentation explores recent developments in maritime 5G technology, its applications across maritime sectors and future advances to support these innovations.

The intentions of ships in the area are important for navigating a ship. Studies show that the automatic exchange of sailing intentions can improve safety and efficiency on waterways. The rapid uptake of track pilots on western European waterways is making sailing lines available digitally. The next step is to share these intentions with other ships in the area. This can help, for example, collision warning systems to predict collisions with great accuracy. In the second half of 2025, a large experiment will be carried out where intentions are shared, even between systems delivered by different suppliers.

As the business cases for MASS/remote operations continue to grow, much activity is underway to ensure infrastructure can meet the needs of scaled-up uncrewed operations. Taking what has been learned from the Maritime Autonomy Assurance Testbed (MAAT) program, this presentation will explore the status of some of the critical enablers, including resilient PNT and connectivity, as well as the need for data quality standards and frameworks.

This presentation will explore the transformative role of simulation in the development of autonomous maritime systems. Looking across the whole engineering cycle, the speaker will delve into how advanced simulation techniques enhance design accuracy, reduce costs and accelerate development timelines. By examining key methods, the presentation will illustrate how simulation identifies potential design flaws, optimizes performance and ensures regulatory compliance. Furthermore, it will examine the synergy between simulation and real-world testing, highlighting their combined effectiveness in advancing the field of autonomous maritime technology.

Remote operation centers (ROCs) will significantly enhance and revolutionize the offshore industry. By moving offshore functions from onboard to onshore facilities, we can achieve greater cost-efficiency and sustainability. This shift not only reduces costs but also enhances safety and efficiency through the use of autonomous and remote operations technology. Combining remote operations with increased automation will help prevent significant accidents, as safety barriers and risk mitigation measures will be strengthened. As one of the few highly operated 24/7 ROC centers, Remota will provide a detailed description of the business model behind this innovative approach.

2025 marked a milestone in Massterly's operations, when the first mandatory role was moved from the vessels and into the remote operations center. Since February, three vessels have been run with the ETO and chief engineer on shore, and only the bridge crew remaining onboard. What are the experiences? What is the engineer's situational awareness? Join us for some insight into remote operations, from an operator's perspective.

The navigation data of today is primarily designed to support human decision-making to conduct navigation planning and execution. To support increasing autonomy within the navigation domain, data needs to be machine readable and machine intelligible. While much of the content of the core navigational products, such as the electronic navigation chart (ENC), are machine readable, there is a wealth of ancillary information, which contains important information to support situational awareness, that may prove much more challenging for an autonomous system to assimilate. The presentation will explore some of the challenges and potential solutions for data producers and developers of autonomous navigation systems.

This presentation will share advancements from early adopters who are harnessing the detection capabilities of W-band radar. It will present case studies where this technology is combined with multisensor modalities to enhance situational awareness of collision avoidance and DP systems, exploring the importance of reliable and robust detection in all conditions to ensure the safety of uncrewed systems.

This presentation will discuss a recently secured project to integrate multiple data, vessel and mission profiles into the Robosys Voyager AI autonomous navigation (ANS) software. It will review the past 20 years of software and algorithm development and maritime autonomy projects and the last 12 months of integrating new datasets and developing new AI/ML algorithms for autonomous short- and long-path planning for smart shipping applications.

The MEGURI2040 Fully Autonomous Ship Project, administrated by the Nippon Foundation, has moved to the second stage, targeting the commercialization of fully autonomous ships in 2025. Under MEGURI2040 Stage 2, the consortium of over 50 companies (DFFAS+) in Japan has been developing a fully autonomous navigation system equivalent to Level 4 but also working on other activities necessary for the social implementation of MASS. The presentation shows the project's progress, especially focusing on how the consortium works on the social acceptance of stakeholders in the whole system of interest ranging from shipowners and operators to seafarers and users of MASS.

Shifting from land to waterborne transportation will help to preserve nature and can reduce noise, congestion, accidents and pollution. European short sea shipping and inland waterways transportation face challenges like declining crew availability and non-optimal logistics. The Horizon EU project Seamless aims to accelerate efficient unmanned operations for these segments with advancements in ship autonomy, remote control centers, cargo handling, docking, port management,and booking systems. Sintef Ocean will present plans for two full-scale demonstrations of the developed technology on the Horten-Moss and Lille-Antwerp-Duisburg loop services, scheduled for summer 2026.

An outline description of the I-MASTER (Italian Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship Test Range) project will be provided. Phase 1 of the project (design) has been successfully carried out and Phase 2 (implementation) is undergoing. The full entry into service of the infrastructure is scheduled for the end of 2027. The idea of I-MASTER is to realize the proper system of ecosystems (comms, logical, infrastructural) able to test MASS>2 surface platforms, the related technologies (shore-based and off-shore) and software (and AI) procedures/tools needed for undertaking autonomous navigation with large cooperative ship models.

The maritime industry is undergoing a transformative era, driven by technological advancements, environmental regulations and the push toward sustainability. This presentation explores the latest trends and challenges and the critical need for a cybersecure environment in marine engineering. The presentation will cover emerging trends in marine engineering, challenges facing the industry, compliance with stringent regulations, the need for a cybersecure marine environment and the future outlook. The objective is to provide an in-depth understanding of how the marine engineering sector is evolving and highlight the importance of a robust cybersecurity framework to protect its technological advancements.

Cyber threats and electronic interference can sink projects before they even set sail. What are the key cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, and how can they be mitigated? The presentation offers three real-world cases where Mahi detected, resolved and reported security flaws in communication devices and navigation sensors. These findings highlight the critical need for secure-by-design navigation systems to ensure continuous and reliable operations in uncrewed and lean-crewed vessels. The Baltic Sea jamming crisis and rising geopolitical tensions reveal further vulnerabilities in autonomous systems. The presentation outlines mitigation strategies to counter jamming-induced paralysis, spoofing-driven navigation errors and direct cyber intrusions.

With the reduced availability of GNSS due to spoofing and jamming and the limitations of lidar-based methods in open sea environments, inertial navigation presents a clear alternative for the reliable navigation of autonomous surface vessels. During extended GNSS outages, velocity aiding becomes essential to achieve survey-grade accuracy. This aiding can be provided by acoustic instruments based on the Doppler principle, offering accurate measurements of speed over ground, as well as measurements of speed through water and current. When integrated with a high-end INS, this solution provides a dependable alternative in situations where GNSS cannot be relied upon.

The European 'AI Act' (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) entered into force on 1 August 2024. What is the (possible) impact of this new regulation on the development of autonomous ship systems?

From ship piloting to active and preemptive equipment monitoring and maintenance to port management, AI is the tool behind the automations that are important to optimize operations and reduce costs. Implementing AI, however, is not without unique challenges. Training AI is not always straightforward and carries cost. Once trained, implementation and supervision of the AI takes the lead. This phase can come with various cost savings but it is still far from complete automation. Because humans continue to have trust issues with AI, putting the Terminator movies aside, even when AI is permitted to operate with no or minimal supervision, legal questions remain. These include various transportation and port rules and regulations, as well as compliance with safety protocols and the inevitable legal exposure that might come from AI-triggered mistakes that lead to damage or injuries or both. This presentation will discuss the exciting developments in AI and how it can help the logistics industry navigate the possibility of legal exposure from the use of AI.

The results of a recently completed research project are presented: a model predictive control (MPC) approach is introduced to address the challenge of automated maneuvering of underactuated vessels in waves. To demonstrate the suitability of MPC, the docking of a crew transfer vessel (CTV) to a wind turbine tower is automated in a virtual environment. GPU computing is used to enable the real-time capability of the approach, which essentially consists of a 6-DoF hydrodynamic model and the Nelder-Mead method. In our approach, the trajectory of the CTV is not explicitly planned but results from the shape of the target function.

In various complex scenarios not explicitly addressed in the COLREGs, such as multivessel encounters in confined waters, navigators must depend on good seamanship to ensure safety. This presentation introduces a methodology for generating trajectories for autonomous ships that prioritizes safety over efficiency while adhering to kinodynamic constraints. Collision and grounding risks, quantified using a dynamic ship domain, are used as safety metrics. The method dynamically regenerates new trajectories to account for the unexpected movements of target vessels. The algorithm is evaluated in challenging scenarios that highlight the importance of good seamanship, demonstrating its potential to enhance autonomous ship navigation in complex environments.