111

1 INTRODUCTION

In our fast paced, technology driven society, we

engage in a wide range of multimodal technologies.

Research and innovation represent the first steps to

take so to come out of the current economic crisis.

Tougher competition and the arrival of new world

players leave us the only choice but to invest in the

future through the development of research and

innovation.

How does the ship industry work? Over the last

few years, there have been some initiatives concerning

autonomous or unmanned or the “robot ships”. On

these levels, new definitions of the Ship and Master of

the ship are on the horizon….as there will be no

humans on board. Where do we go from here? How

can we make communication be effective? Is there a

reinvented definition of the Maritime English/IMO

Standard Marine Communication Phrases (ME/ IMO

SMCPs) available for what is to be the Shore Control

Centre (SCC)? As Maritime Education and Training

(MET) educators, how are we going to solve this

problem? The application of new information

technologies, digitalisation and automation may

rapidly change the way maritime transport works and

operates. We are currently preparing students for jobs

that do not yet exist, using technologies that have not

been invented capable to solve problems we do not

even know are problems yet….

In March 2014, the Robotics Business Review

(RBR) staff presented autonomous ships and their”

unmanned bridge of the future”, where „ship captains

in 2025 will use heads-up displays to turn the bridge

into an augmented reality control system”. They took

this step after Rolls-Royce’s announcement in

February 2014 about their intention to build crewless

cargo ships to serve a global shipping industry. The

report indicated that was worth an estimated $375

billion annually: „By 2025, crews manning the bridges

of tugs, cargo ships, and platform supply vessels

Preparing for an Unknown Future. Autonomous Ships

Versus Position of the Maritime English/IMO Standard

Marine Communication Phrases(ME / IMO SMCPs) in

Maritime Practice. How Are We Going to Solve this

Problem?

C. Chirea-Ungureanu

Constanta Maritime University, Constanta, Romania

ABSTRACT: The reason for modern Maritime Education and Training (MET) is to provide students with the

necessary skills, and knowledge to be successful in the future outside of school. Futuristic teachers need to help

students become life-long learners who are ready, organized, and equipped for new challenges. This paper tries

to find position of Maritime English/IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases (ME/ IMO SMCPs) versus

autonomous ships, to facilitate developments in a safe predictable environment and for ensuring safe navigation

in the future, also in a mixed traffic situation where both manned and unmanned ships will be sailing on the

same routes and ports. In its attempts, this paper tries to analyse the Obstacles and Disadvantages when no crew

is required on board; this could jeopardize the statute of seafarers, and not every aspect of unmanned shipping

is all roses. The work is much future oriented and requires challenging conventional concepts and operations.

http://www.transnav.eu

the International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 15

Number 1

March 2021

DOI: 10.12716/1001.15.01.10

112

could be using new bridge technology being

developed by the VTT Technical Research Centre of

Finland (VTT) in collaboration with Rolls-Royce

Marine and Aalto University of Finland. The future

ship’s bridge, [..] could also help crews sail the seven

seas without getting their feet wet, by supporting

remote operation of a range of seafaring vessels. On-

board versions of the bridge automatically detect

which crewmember is at the console and

automatically adjusts to the user’s predefined settings.

The bridge window acts as a heads-up display with

information about the location of the ship (and other

vessels)” [8].

More than that, the same report gave information

about another $4.8 million European project called

Maritime Unmanned Navigation through Intelligence

in Networks (MUNIN) to be concluded by end of

2014.The project main objective was to „develop

prototypes of a range of technologies, including

autonomous route finding and collision avoidance

systems, and shore-side control” [8].

In this paper, the author is inviting you to venture

into your imagination to navigate on autonomous-

unmanned ships and on manned vessels as well, so to

manage after that to focus on reality and to bring to

light their advantages and/or obstructions in the

maritime industry, along with the major changes that

the use of autonomous-unmanned ships presume.

2 THE STRONG CONFLICT OF OUR SOCIETY:

SHIPPING AND WORLD TRADE

Shipping is the heart of the global economy. People

say if ships stop operating half the world will die of

hunger and the other half will freeze to death. There is

no question that nowadays ships cannot run on fuel

and sophisticated equipment only. A great number of

adequately trained, qualified and experienced

seafarers must operate the ships to sail safely, and the

cargo be delivered to the consignee in as good

conditions as it was received.

The pace of change in our world is accelerating.

Technology is helping us manage this change and stay

connected across the globe. New technologies such as

the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence,

robotics, and virtual reality, are set to innovate the

maritime industry, including ship design, operations,

and managerial patterns, so to reduce costs and

increase profits. That is not easy to do as there are

many steps to take; moreover, the open-ended digital

technology pushes the companies to arrange how they

Identify, Operate, Evaluate Risks or Fail these new

technologies. Digital solutions offer opportunities to

scale rapidly and disseminate fast when the solution

answers a crucial need. If companies hope to preserve

their competitive edge and avoid division, then they

must use the new technologies and facilitate the rapid

dissemination of digital assets.

Each digital innovation is a building rock to create

new combinations for innovation and division. The

expertise and equipment knowledge makes some

companies the ideal partners to transform current-

days vessels for tomorrow’s needs. Therefore, remote,

and autonomous ships will be safer, more efficient,

and cheaper to build and operate. More than that,

they are solutions to reduce human-machine

interaction by remotely controlled tasks and

processes, while keeping the human at the centre of

critical decision-making.

Alan Tovey (2016) in his article published on April

11, 2016, in The Telegraph (Business page) announced

the crewless 'drone ships' will be sailing the seas by

2020, citing Oskar Levander, head of innovation for

Rolls-Royce marine unit: “This is happening. It is not

a question of if, it is a question of when. We will see a

remote controlled ship in commercial use by the end

of the decade”[9]. Oskar Levander also predicted the

system could turn ships into a seaborne version of car

service Uber, with the potential to change completely

the current shipping sector: “Drone ships will allow

the creation of new services, which will support

existing players to make their businesses more

efficient and enable new entrants with new business

models to the sector, with a potentially similarly

disruptive effect to that caused by Uber, Spotify and

Airbnb in other industries” [9].

As a result, the ships will be steered from 'virtual

bridges' based on shore. Crews could control the ships

from shore simultaneously. Sensors such as radar,

lasers and computer programs will allow the ships to

pilot themselves, with shore-based captains taking

over if there is a problem or for complex docking

procedures, although the seafarers will be on board

ship at first to oversee the pilot projects. In the long

term, one of the most important advantages of this

innovation is the fact that crewless ‘drone ships” are

expected “to help overcome the staffing shortages in

the marine sector, with people increasingly reluctant

to take on careers that mean months away from

home” [9]. Therefore, “virtual” captains and crews

will be able to monitor the vessels from shore,

meaning normal home lives. They have predicted that

crews stationed around the world will be ready to be

transferred by helicopter to crewless ‘’drone ships’’,

when the latter might encounter problems, they could

not handle themselves.

Having arrived at this point there are some

questions to puzzle over: Can you think of a specific

situation where having seafarers present would be an

advantage over just having users and display of

information? Can you assume a situation where users

to have is an advantage? Can you consider a situation

that model a danger to the ship and voyage?

Accordingly, would you rather have seafarers, who

might cope and find solutions against e.g., sea pirates’

attacks, or evaluate, who are less likely to cope but a

lot easier to “write off”? Can you think of cyber

pirates that can hack a ship?

Taking into consideration the challenges for MET

institutions and shipping organizations as well in

facing the Digital Era, the shipping companies often

fail to recognize what an attractive target they are to

cybercriminals. The NotPetya cyber-attack in June

2017 affected badly several shipping companies,

including the shipping giant A.P. Moller Maersk

group. On 18 August 2017, Chris Baraniuk, a

technology reporter, analysed „How hackers are

targeting the shipping industry”, and „breaking into a

shipping firm’s computer system could allow

113

attackers to access all kinds of sensitive information”

[1].

The modernized ships, increasingly computerised,

are vulnerable. For many involved in the maritime

domain, this is the greatest headache. Malware,

including NotPetya and many other pains, can spread

from computer to computer on a network. That means

connected devices on board ships are also potentially

vulnerable. On April 03, 2018, the online editor at

ComputerworldUK and Techworld, Tamlin Magee

wrote on his blog:” Security researchers have for years

been warning the maritime industry that it is low

hanging fruit as incredibly high-value cargo is

transported on ships with legacy systems, combined

with poor processes and awareness, while the

seaports they dock in often suffer from the same

problems. In 2015, Kaspersky Labs went as far as to

claim shipping was ‚easy meat’ for hackers. […] The

Russian cybersecurity vendor reported on a wave of

significant hacks: these ranged from a drilling rig that

was hacked and tilted from its site in South Korea

towards South America – in 2010. […] In 2012, a

criminal gang hacked into the systems of the

Australian Customers and Border Protection Service

agency, so they could be one-step ahead of authorities

that placed containers under suspicion. […] Maritime

security company CyberKeel warned that ships were

switching off their navigation systems when travelling

through waters where armed pirates are to operate –

sometimes faking the data to make the ships appear

they were elsewhere. […] A daring scheme in the

Belgian port town of Antwerp meanwhile saw

criminals gain access to systems that controlled the

movement of containers to smuggle cocaine, heroin,

and guns. ‚If your goal is to steal cargo there are easier

ways of approaching piracy than some of the more

sophisticated headlines demonstrated by security

researchers’. […] In 2017, a cargo ship travelling from

Cyprus to Djibouti lost control of its navigation

system for 10 hours – preventing a captain from

manoeuvring and with the intention of steering it into

territory where it could be easily boarded by pirates

and robbed” [6].

Accordingly, hack the Electronic Chart Systems

(ECDIS) and you can send a ship to wrong way, or

you may be able to crash the ship, particularly in fog.

Very often there is a lack of network segregation on

vessels. Hack the satcom terminal and you connect

yourself to the vessel network. If the ship is remotely

controlled and communicating with satellites, that

means hacking could play a role in future piracy at

sea. “Spoofing” is a technique that sends different

GPS coordinates to a vehicle with the aim of throwing

it off course. Rather than a hostile attempt to crack

into a computer system, spoofing simply tries to feed

GPS readers incorrect information. Could you

imagine what it would take to spoof a ship?

Experienced seafarers describe their younger

mates as working ‘screen fixated’ all too often,

believing the electronic screens instead of looking out

of the window. All the above-mentioned examples

have a common feature: crewmembers working in

departments and positions on board vessel. Therefore,

MET institutions should be increasingly connected to

explore the challenges of maritime cyber security so to

understand the issues with securing vessels at sea,

along with the shore-based centres. Our students

should be trained to face the severity of the problem.

A human crew is advantageous in many ways in

terms of ship security. On the first place, they may be

able to verify that the ships’ systems function as

intended. On the second place, if these systems are

modified to query the crew during potential cyber-

attacks, it is more difficult for a cybercriminal to go

undetected. It is prudent to take advantage of humans

on board ship. That is why the seafarers’ training on

how to keep these systems secure is much important.

Considering keeping the vessel safe, it is useful to

impart the use and protection of passwords and

access keys, the proper use of the ship’s system, what

a cybercriminal looks like, together with how to

disable, restart, or suspend certain systems in case of

distress or a hazard situation.

Statistics published by Sam Chambers on March

28, 2018 shows shipping as the softest target for

hackers: „A survey of nearly 6,000 active seafarers

carried out by Futurenautics has shown 47% of

respondents said that they sailed on a vessel that had

been the target of a cyber-attack. Moreover, only 15%

of seafarers had received any form of cyber security

training. Just as alarming only 33% of seafarers said

the company, they last worked for had a policy to

regularly change the passwords onboard and just 18%

of those polled said the company they last worked for

had a policy to change default equipment passwords

on board [..] More seafarers than ever before had had

access to connectivity and communications. Seafarers

who can use the internet at sea has increased by

527,000 since the last survey in 2015, and those who

can access it for free has increased by more than

200,000. Also, of note, 53% of seafarers are now

reporting that crew communications have led to a

decline in social interactions on board” [2].

Taking notice of all these, how worried should we

be? Like so many challenges we encounter daily, the

answer to whether we should be concerned about

ships being hacked depends on understanding the fact

that even one item easily accessible in the above-

described manner is enough to cause a disastrous

accident. In addition to thinking of the type of cargo

carried by the ship, we must find ourselves taking all

these kinds of vulnerabilities a lot more seriously

while thinking of cooperation between crews to find

solutions to any problems.

3 MANNED OR UNMANNED SHIPS OF THE

FUTURE?

„So, the Reindeer, crewless, lay across the estuary at the

sandspit”.

Jack London, John Barleycorn, Chapter XI, 1913

Maritime transport is the backbone of world trade and

globalization. Ships are the cost-effective way to carry

cargoes to all places of the globe. Following the first

steps towards driverless cars on land, companies are

starting to imagine ships without crews or with crews,

but remote ones. The latter will oversee the ship by

satellite and control it from consoles on shore. In most

cases the drawing plans for autonomous ships are not

mainly about security. Instead, these are cost-savings

114

schemes. Crews cost money, and because of their’

’troublesome’’ needs like, e.g., accommodation on

board ship, seafarers take up some space that could

instead fit more cargo loading. Removing the crew

from the ship should translate into cheaper operating

costs and could even reduce the numbers of accidents

caused by human factor. Still, they say the ships

would not be entirely alone at sea. There will be

supervising humans tracking their progress by Shore

Control Centres (SCC) and sensors on the vessels

alerting the humans to fix the problems via monitors.

We might consider these humans will be the

‘seafarers’ of the future. If so, and based on COLREG,

regulation 2, on good seamanship (section 4.4.1), it

must be presumed that remote operators will, as a

minimum, be required to complete the usual training

programme for navigating officers and meet the

requirements for this under the STCW Convention [4].

To this, they should add other competences necessary

to steer an autonomous ship, especially education and

qualifications within operational technology and

other relevant technology of importance to the

operation of autonomous ships. Furthermore, they

should also make an amendment to the ISM Code that

establishes the principles for remote operators. Such

regulation could cover organisational and decision

structures, means of communication and emergency

procedures, and should be based on the principles

and requirements made in relation to the” Master’s

Responsibility and Authority” in part A, regulation 5

of the ISM Code [4]. Remote operators will

presumably be specialised as either operators with

navigating tasks or operators with engineering tasks.

In the long term, the operator’s role will presumably

include both elements of the deck officer’s and the

engineer officer’s functions.

This is a concept for the future, but putting in place

the satellites, autonomous ships, remote monitoring,

and drone stations to inspect underway vessels is the

work of years, if not decades.

Crewless ships, experts say, will be a game-

changer for marine underwriters. An example: They

will change the way insurers view risk and handle

claims. Exactly how that plays out, time will tell. At

this point, insurers have more questions than answers

about these crewless vessels. On March 01, 2018,

Caroline McDonalds published her article “The Rising

Tide of Maritime Shipping Risks”, in The Risk

Management Magazine. She cited Capt. Andrew

Kinsey, senior marine risk consultant at Allianz

Global Corporate & Specialty, who considered

“Crewless ships will no doubt be deployed, but the

jury is still out on whether safety concerns and

regulations will clear the way for ocean-going

autonomous vessels in the near future. Ultimately, [he

believes] technology will support, rather than fully

replace, ship crews” [7].

Above all, they have concerns by the number.

Cyberattacks, piracy, casualty management, vessel

maintenance, assignment of liability and safety, all

have a spot on that list. There is no question: Before

crewless vessels hit international waters, they must

navigate a sea of regulatory changes.

After examination of all the above data, the author

of this paper considers that the comprehensive

introduction of autonomous shipping seems to be less

a technological problem though also here quite a few

essentials remain unsolved so far. It is more safety,

security, legal and similar aspects, which bar the

application of unmanned vessels within a predictable

time.

Just to name a few:

1. Development of an internationally agreed

regulatory framework most likely to be done by

the IMO. Knowing somewhat the lyrics of the

legislative process of that Organization, the author

of this paper strongly doubts that practicable

solutions can be achieved keeping up with the

speed of the technological progress involved.

2. Safety issues arising, for instance, from collisions

between, e.g., crewless vessels themselves (or with

what “floating object” ever) or, even worse, with

passenger liners. It is surely beyond the

imaginative power of even the most enthusiastic

supporter of an autonomous shipping that one of

these far away days cruise liners will sail the seas

without a qualified navigation/engineering staff on

board.

3. Emergency considerations including environmental

aspects. The decision-making activities to fight a

fire or to limit an oil spill, e.g., are normally much

complex and may hardly be mastered without

action by whatever crew.

4. What will happen when technology fails – there is

not any infallible technology – or when ships will

be attacked by cybercriminal actions, the hazard

potentials of them are presently not even visible

yet.

5. The autonomously sailing fleets must be operated

and controlled by (national/international?) closely

coordinating Shore-based Control Centres (SCC). It

is hardly imaginable that under the conditions of a

violent competition in maritime trade any kind of

successful coordination will be manageable.

It is interesting to see that the most optimistic

opinions regarding the introduction of autonomous

shipping are preferably expressed by scientists,

theoreticians, academics and those alike. More

realistic views, scepticism and even demurring

comments are first of all given by Master Mariners

who know the industry in depth.

Another example: Germany has started kind of

experiment with unstaffed vessels: Crewless barges of

about 30 to 50 TDW will be operated on the tight-

meshed network of inland waterways probably in

Berlin. This procedure is similar to the operation of

autonomous streetcars, the development of which has

already reached a comparatively high level. The

outcome of this experiment remains to be seen, but

conclusions cannot be drawn 1:1 as these barges will

be under close supervision on each metre they will

cover, and in case of an unforeseen technical incident

intervention can be started immediately.

Communication between those barges will play no

part.

115

4 AND…HERE WE ARE! WHERE IS THE ME/IMO

SMCPS GOING?

“It is, I suppose, only to be expected than an activity such

as seafaring, which is international by nature, should feel

the need for an international language. It seems reasonable

that this language should be English.”

Commodore T. W. Stevens, Royal Mail Lines Limited, 1961

The IMO Working Group on the Standard Marine

Communication Phrases (SMCPs) worked about eight

years to develop “this standardized safety language

enacted in 2001-IMO 2002” [10]. After that, it took

another couple of years to familiarize the ships

officers with the proper use of the IMO SMCPs as

required by the STCW Convention 1978/95 as revised.

To accomplish this section, the Maritime English (ME)

teachers and instructors of the Maritime Education

and Training (MET) institutions played a prominent

part.

Regarding onboard, ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore

communication in the current-days: ME in general

and the IMO SMCPs are the internationally agreed

medium for verbal communication among people

performing their jobs on board vessels, in ports and in

maritime administrations such as VTS Centres. This

will remain as it is for the foreseeable future, will say

if human beings are involved.

If one of these days still beyond the horizon

autonomous fleets will sail the oceans, then verbal

interchange of intelligence will no longer play a role –

shipping will dispense with seafarers in our

traditional understanding and consequently with ME

and the IMO SMCPs as well. In this case electronic

data streams between vessels and from shore to

vessels (and vice versa) will perform the routine jobs

of ship operation such as fixing position,

determining/altering course and speed and other

navigational tasks.

It is conceivable that maintenance and repair in

shipyards will remain for a longer period as one of the

rare fields where highly qualified personnel will

depend to a certain extent on a clear verbal medium

for the exchange of intelligence, and this could be

English. The IMO SMCPs, however, are not suited

and not intended to master the demanding

communication challenges in this area.

5 CONCLUSIONS

Worldwide, the number and scope of projects

dedicated to autonomous crewless vessels is

increasing. Additionally, increased autonomy raises

complex questions regarding the maritime labour

force and staffing levels of the future. How might

autonomous ships breakthrough in the future affect

seafarers?

It seems that experts understand our concerns

when they explain: “I wouldn't be too worried,

however, because there will also be manned vessels in

the future, autonomy is not for all ships…it will not

drastically reduce the number of seafarer jobs in the

future. [..] In my mind, the breakthrough happens

when the IMO allows operation of unmanned vessels

in international waters’’ [5]. That not happened yet.

As Maritime English teachers, we are thinking of

our students. “We cannot ignore that the concept of

MELF (Maritime English as a Lingua Franca) at SEA

with all its associated demands, has now been subtly

and almost imperceptibly incorporated in the syllabi,

methodologies, and teaching goals of marine higher

education institutions [..] Cross-curricular approaches,

intercultural considerations, the learning of languages

following content-based teaching, materials

development for the new curricula and methods

constitute areas of current research worldwide. The

challenging new ideas aspire to add useful insights

into the relevant issues and promote ideas and

practices” [3].

Advanced navigation and engineering technology

is no stranger to students as Generation Y. Is the

‘breakthrough’ year here? Is technology transferable

to operate and control navigation and engineering

systems in large crewless ships? Regarding this,

another problem may sooner or later have a direct

impact on us, the MET institutions: How can we

convince young men/women to time-consuming

qualify for the challenging profession of a deck officer

or engineer officer when they learn that their job is a

dying breed? That is why the main goal of this paper

is to illustrate that the reasons for creating and

applying the IMO SMCPs are still on the agenda, as

“an efficient and specific device for verbal

communication in order to promote safety at sea, on

board vessels and in ports if taught applying

appropriate methods” [10].

To sum it up: Should a comprehensive

autonomous shipping come true with all its aspects,

then the IMO SMCPs will have no job to do as there

will be no persons who must use this standardised

safety language for a clear intercommunication. For

the time being, however, and for a foreseeable future

counting by decades, MET institutions are well

advised to teach their students and cadets the highest

possible competence in mastering Maritime English

(ME) including the IMO SMCPs as required by the

STCW Convention, 2010. Full speed ahead, ME

teachers!

REFERENCES

1. Baraniuk, C.: How hackers are targeting the shipping

industry, https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-

40685821, (2017).

2. Chambers, S.: Shipping seen as the softest of hacker

targets, https://splash247.com/shipping-seen-softest-

hacker-targets/, last accessed 2021/03/25.

3. Chirea-Ungureanu, C.: Developing cross-curricular

teaching by “Marinisation” of ME teachers. Presented at

the Proceedings of International Maritime English

Conference (IMEC 28) , Gothenburg, Sweden (2016).

4. Danish Maritime Authority:

https://www.dma.dk/Documents/Publikationer/Analysi

s%20of%20Regulatory%20Barriers%20to%20the%20Use

%20of%20Autonomous%20Ships.pdf, last accessed

2021/02/01.

5. Jokioinen, E.: Is 2017 the breakthrough year for

unmanned vessels?, https://www.ship-technology.com,

last accessed 2021/03/25.

116

6. Magee, T.: Can you hack a ship? Global maritime

industry ripe for hacking,

https://www.techworld.com/security/can-you-hack-

ship-global-maritime-industry-ripe-for-hacking-

3674517/, last accessed 2020/08/01.

7. McDonald, C.: The Rising Tide of Maritime Shipping

Risks – Risk Management,

http://www.rmmagazine.com/2018/03/01/the-rising-tide-

of-%c2%admaritime-shipping-risks/, last accessed

2021/03/25.

8. Robotics Business Review: Autonomous Ships: Inside

the Unmanned Bridge of the Future,

https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/rbr/autonomo

us_ships_inside_the_unmanned_bridge_of_the_future/,

last accessed 2021/03/25.

9. Tovey, A.: Crewless “drone ships” will be sailing the

seas by 2020,

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/04/09/crewle

ss-drone-ships-will-be-sailing-the-seas-by-2020/, (2016).

10. Trenkner, P.: The IMO -Standard Marine

Communication Phrases - Refreshing memories to

refresh motivation. Presented at the IMLA 17th

International Maritime English Conference , Marseille,

France (2005).