The Marine Engineer 2020: Afloat or Ashore?

A new concept in ship design and operation is required if the predicted manpower shortages in shipping are to be overcome and further cost reductions achieved. Unmanned ships have been proposed as a possible solution, overcoming the manpower problems and in this paper the results of a technical and economic appraisal of a fully automated unmanned cargo ship are presented within the context of expected world developments in the next decades.