A Future With Captain-Less Seiners?

Defined as: ‘the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry’ – Technology continues to alter our relationship with the job market. There is the sense that Artificial Intelligence (AI), powered by vast amounts of data and algorithms, is close to edging us towards irrelevance. According to a 2015 study by The Pew Charitable Trusts, 65 percent of Americans expect that within 50 years robots will “definitely” or “probably” do most of the work currently done by humans.

To be a captain of a purse seiner is to hold one of the best-paid roles in the tuna industry. It is a role that continues to evolve with the assistance of technology designed to make voyages more efficient and safe. With advancements in solar-powered satellite buoys that are connected to FADs, along with those made in navigation systems, captains are able to hone in on a precise location, with a strong idea of the amount of tuna nearby.

Much closer to harvesting fish than hunting it, we can already see that the list of requirements to be a successful captain has shrunk from what it once was. How much further could it reduce?

With millions of advancements already made, where is technology headed, and how is it changing the roles in the tuna industry?

Is it possible that a 3,500 M/T seiner could soon be equipped with operational and navigational technology that would make captains surplus to requirements?

As well as uncertainty over the future of captains, the future of shipping and aquaculture also seems fluid, with autonomous vessels currently under construction and one model expected to be operational by the end of next year.

‘Hrönn’ is currently being manufactured by cutting-edge Norwegian firm, KONGSBERG. When completed, it will be a light duty vessel capable of transporting cargo and supporting the upkeep of fish farms. It will be “the world’s first unmanned and fully automated vessel for offshore operations.”

Starting life as remotely operated, Hrönn will become fully automated after the control algorithms it is programmed with ‘learn’ from the decisions made by the pilot. KONGSBERG, which is developing the technology required to communicate and position Hrönn, was contracted by UK-based Automated Ships Ltd, which will ultimately be the shipowner and responsible for taking it to the market.

Speaking to Atuna, Brett Phaneuf, Managing Director of Automated Ships Ltd, takes the view that, in relation to seafaring, technology and automation need to be embraced, and describes a surprising attitude to change among those who work on the waters, “funnily enough, the older guys are more receptive”.

Discussing Hrönn, Phaneuf felt it important to manufacture a vessel capable of supporting fish farming, as “we know it’s an expanding area of maritime activity, with a tremendous amount of automation built into the farms themselves.”

While it remains to be seen if the predicted expansion of farming will reach the tuna industry, it is clear that once available, the technology behind automating navigation systems could have a big impact on vessels such as purse seiners.

At the center of these developments, it is not a coincidence that Norway, a country under which high volumes of marine research is flagged and which Phaneuf describes as a “unique entity, a one stop shop” in terms of being a hospitable legislative environment with ample available talent, is home to companies that are leading the way in maritime technology.

A major part of this is DNV GL, which is a wide-spanning organization with technical expertise in maritime affairs. DNV GL, along with business and a receptive government, has helped collaborate on policy that has allowed innovation to flourish, according to Phaneuf.

Legal issues have the potential to slow any move toward widespread, international use of automated vessels because different jurisdictions may take conflicting approaches to regulation. However, Phaneuf offers a relaxed stance, describing high seas regulation as “down to interpretation”. This is because, as they were developed in a time when the possibility of automated vessels hadn’t been thought of, the controlling laws are “almost silent”. He does not see them as an obstacle for further development of unmanned vessels on high seas.

Though he has every confidence in the technology that is present in Hrönn, which is scheduled for operation in 2018, Phaneuf concedes there needs to be clarification on what will legally be permitted in terms of docking, and navigating busy ports. This is because the probability of an accident will be higher in a confined, congested space and while operations become more complex, so too do legal issues, particularly relating to liability.

Less convinced at the ease with which regulation can be negotiated, Oskar Levander, Vice President of Innovation at Rolls Royce, a company that has historically been at the forefront of maritime technology, is eyeing an expansion into autonomous shipping in the near future, but believes “change at all regulatory levels” is first needed. He does, however, agree with Phaneuf that remote control operations will be the bridge between regular and automated vessels.

He stated that while a human being will still need to be in control, it will be realistic to “be in charge of a large number of ships at any one time, switching between them as the need arises.”

This, he believes, will be possible, once the support of shipowners, operators, and seafarers is secured, not to mention “wider public acceptance”, as trusting machines to do jobs that are seen as intrinsically human can be seen as a risk.

With all of this in mind, Levander predicts that initial progress will be made by tug vessels and road-ferries, with individual flag states more likely to be able to give special approval for their operations.

Levander states that, while he expects unmanned shipping vessels to be at open sea by 2025, and be a “common sight” by 2030, Rolls Royce does not envisage fishing vessels ever becoming fully unmanned, and the staff there anticipate “deck operations will require crew in the foreseeable future.”

This is despite leaps forward in technology that have the potential to forever change a captain’s relationship with the water, and his vessel.

Led by Rolls-Royce, the Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative (AAWA), a EUR 6.5 million(USD 7.1 million) two-year research project between the maritime industry and academics set to conclude in June this year, has unearthed two major findings relevant to fishing vessels.

Firstly, discoveries in ‘situational awareness system’ and Enhanced Dynamic Positioning technologies are cited as tools that will offer “detailed analysis of the ships immediate environment.” These concepts rely on high definition and infra-red cameras, and on LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), which is the technology that uses lasers to scan surrounding objects and is currently the subject of a major lawsuit between Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and Uber, in the race to road vehicle automation. Both in relation to cars and fishing vessels, it has the purpose of making navigation safer.

Secondly, as well as sensors being used to monitor a vessel’s external environment, they can be used to analyze its equipment and collect data that is used to optimize the safety and performance of it. This circumstance, according to Levander, will “provide predictability, giving a complete understanding of the lifecycle cost of the systems”, which will lead to cost reductions “by increasing the efficiency of maintenance of operations and extending the interval between overhauls.”

Here we see the two main arguments for automation emerge; efficiency and safety, more money and less risk.

If technology will give ships the ability to diagnose their own mechanical issues, while changing the nature of engineers’ jobs, it could bode well for boatowners, as the longer time between overhauls means a longer time on the water.

However, if Levander’s statements regarding navigation technology are correct, we could see a major part of a captain’s expertise soon shrink in significance.

Is this such a bad thing? According to a report published in 2012 by insurance corporation Allianz, between 75 and 96 percent of marine accidents are a result of human error, a point which is echoed by Phaneuf, who stated that, in his opinion, seafaring is a hazardous pursuit and “the level of safety has greatly accelerated” and will be “infinitely safer” with the introduction of automation.

One man, with nearly 50 years of practical experience in the operation of purse seiners begs to differ. Bobby Virissimo, Vice President of Fleet Operations at South Pacific Tuna, started out as a deckhand in 1970, and is of the view that though the fishing industry has in parts become unrecognizable from that which he joined, the presence and authority of respected and experienced personnel adds to the safety of a voyage.

He points to the regular occurrence of multiple vessels that are close to setting on the same school of fish. In this instance, he argues, “you’re gonna have boats running into each other, setting nets, wrapping nets, getting caught in propellers”.

Further to this, with between 30 and 40 members of crew that are vital for stacking nets aboard a purse seiner, which can spend months at a time at sea, Virissimo points to the necessity of man-management skills, to keep peace and spirits onboard high.

As well as the practical use of humans on board, the issue of regulation is again raised, with Virissimo outlining US Coast Guard rules that stipulate that a captain, a first mate, and a chief engineer must be present, and “you’d never get that changed.”

Despite his case for the significance of a crew, and his belief that the experience of it is key to success, Virissimo does add to the impression that times are moving forward, and they are taking job specifications forward with them. This seems especially true considering the confidence in modern navigation systems held by Phaneuf and Levander, which raises some doubt over Virissimo’s claim that this technology couldn’t be used in the place of a human to avoid collisions at sea.

“I didn’t think FAD fishing could replace dolphins, but it did… now I can train a person to operate a purse seiner in a year, and it used to take years.” He said, in reference to the information provided by technologies like sonar buoys, radar, and water temperature maps.

If some of the roles onboard vessels are becoming less specialized, could it indicate that rather than simply expiring, the skills that are required are being transferred elsewhere?

With new problems, such as concerns for the environment and overfishing, comes the opportunity for new thinking to solve them. As technology continues to flourish, tasks that have traditionally fallen to captains are now automated. While this has the potential to make the role less specialized, and perhaps less well remunerated as a result, it is clear that at least for the near future, advancements in vessel capabilities will supplement, rather than supplant the captain.