829

Itʹs been over 70 years since I put on a seaman’s

uniform.ThreegenerationsofPolesthatIsenttothe

seawereeducatedbyme.

Iamlookingattodayʹsworld,whichisrushingin

thedevelopmentofcivilizationatadizzyingpace.

I recall the years

 (1947‐1950), when only three

Polish vessels, i.e.m/s ‘Batory’, ORP ‘Błyskawica’

ands/v‘DarPomorza’wereequippedwithradars.

Sextants werethemostcommonequipmentused

on board vessels and technical navigational devices

comprised: radio, rarely gyrocompasses and Pilot

tubemarinelogs.

In the North Sea fishermen counted

dashes and

dots from the Console. Radionavigation techniques

developed slowly. The 1960s provided us with the

firstnavigationequipmentofhyperbolicsystems:the

Decca‐medium range and the long‐range Loran and

Omega, and then the age of electronic aids to

navigation devices: ARPA, ECDIS, AIS, DP, LRIT,

EPFS, PNT, INS,

 IBS, GMDSS, etc. Finally,

navigationalglobalsatellitesystems:GPS,GLONASS,

Galileo,BeiDou.

Igainedthenecessaryprofessionalknowledgeon

adailybasis,inawidetheoreticalandpracticalscope,

both as lecturer and captain of the ship. I am

reminiscing about those years but I also carefully

observe the existing

transformation of modern

civilization.

Each historical period has its own characteristic

featuresthatimposerelevantbehaviorofaman.At

thesametime,theymakeusnotonlythinkbutalso

participate actively in the creation of a different,

betterworld.

Weobserveunnoticedpaceofchangesinallareas

life,includingthepaceanddevelopmentdirections

ofmaritimetransport.

Thereasonsforthechangesareundoubtedlyboth

economicfactorsandthelevelofsafetyofnavigation.

Intheformercase,thereisneedtoreducethecostsof

operatingships,inthelatterneed toreducenumber

of maritime

accidents resulting from improper

decisionsandhumanactivities.

The elimination of human errors and the

improvement of shipping efficiency have  greatest

impactonthedirectionsofresearchintothereduction

ofshipcrews,aswellasthe preferencefortechnical

solutions for managing remote‐controlled and

autonomousships.

Asin any

innovative project, caution is required,

usually expressed in gradations of solutions from

simpletomostcomplexones.

Iobserveanumberofscientificcentersengagedin

solvingthisproblem.Itisreflectedinvariousstages

ofresearchintotechnologicalsolutions,inotherways

specifyingtheautomationoftaskscarriedout

bythe

ship.

There are various studies in which the levels of

autonomy, i.e. the degree of independence,

independencefromtheinfluenceofaman,thatishis

direct participation in the automation of the shipʹs

operationprocess,havebeensubsumedanddefined.

Examplesoftheabovearesolutionspresented

by:

FORUM

Readers’ Letters

________________________________________

What Is the Next?

A.Walczak

ProfessorEmeritus

aritimeUniversityofSzczecin,Szczecin,Poland



http://www.transnav.eu

the International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 12

Number 4

December 2018

830

 Lloyd’sRegister‐7levelsofautonomy,

 BureauVeritas‐5levelsofautonomy,

 Muninproject‐4levelsofautonomy,[1]

whichtakeintoaccounttheappliedtechnologiesand

operatingproceduresfromthezerolevel(statusquo) 

wheretherearemanmadedecisionsandwherethey

perform all operational

 and control tasks, to full

autonomy,wheredecisionsandactionsaredevoidof

humansupervision.

Theintermediateformsandlevelsofautonomyof

the ship are determined by the role inthe decisions

andchoicesofhumanactioninthecontroloftheship.

In the projects of unmanned and

autonomous

vessels,thescopeofactivitiesoflandcentersremains

openin termsof monitoring ship transport with the

possibility of interfering with the control process

duringthetasks.

Itshouldbeemphasizedthatthereisaconsensus

on the extension of the scope of tasks of the land

center,which

ispresentedbytheRolls‐Roycestudy.

Taking into consideration the research studies,

theyhavealreadygonebeyondthelevelandscopeof

projects.Inthenearestfuturetheresultoftheseworks

willbethefollowing:

 Kongsbergautonomouselectriccontainershipfor

coastalshipping(knowntomefrom

purchasesfor

AM in Szczecin when visiting a design and

executivecenter)

 autonomousvessel‐smallpassengerferry(Rolls‐

Royce)intheportofTrondheim(Norway).[1]

Accepting this information I am humbled by the

boldness of the constructors, the power of scientific

thoughtandtechnologicalsolutionsthatprecedelegal

provisions

 related to the construction and operation

ofunmannedand/orautonomousships.

I am assuming IMO role,  which should already

proceed to the elaboration of legal acts for the

discussedshipsatvariouslevelsofautonomyandthe

nearfuturefullyautonomousones.

Already existing legal documents are not

useful

fortheaboveSolutions,neitherSOLASInternational

ConventionontheSafetyofLifeatSea,norCOLERG‐

containingprovisionsforthepreventionofcollisions

at sea or STCW‐International Convention on

Standards of Training, Certification and

Watchkeepingforseafarersoreventhe International

MARPOLConvention‐theInternationalConvention

for the

 Prevention of Pollution from Ships or SAR‐

theInternationalConventiononMaritimeSearchand

Rescue.

I feel challenge for dozens of committees and

subcommittees which are going to create working

groups, and at a record pace ahead of plans build

programsfordesignofficesandshipyards.

Youdonotneed

tohaveauniqueimaginationto

see from the changes that occur to be aware of the

needtotakeimmediateactionregardingtheabove.

And now maritime education. What plans,

educationalprogramsandcurriculashouldbeframed

for new development conditions in the construction

andoperationofsea‐goingvessels.



Beforetheimplementationofthetransitionphases

mentioned above (2020, 2025, 2030) and the

completion of projects planned for 2035 [1] takes

place, the new graduate of the Maritime University

willbeunder50,fullofknowledgeandprofessional

experience.

The reduction of the crew ‘introduced for

autonomous ships will

be preceded by the

introductionofuseofremotelycontrolledvesselsand

autonomous ships under human supervision with a

reducednumberofcrew(skeleton)ʹ[1].Itstemsfrom

anumberofconditions,includingthepreparationof

teachingaids thatensurethesafetyofnavigationand

security,repairandmaintenanceofship

systems.

Plans and curricula should take into account the

presented levels of autonomy, the resulting ranges

andrequirementsforthem.

You can predict based on the above Projects and

levelsofvariousstudieswhatknowledgeandskillsa

graduate of a maritime university should possess

accordingtonewIMOregulations.

You cannot oversleep because the demand for

sucheducatedstaffwillbeexceptional.

Idonotthinkmyimaginationisrunningwild.So

far,mypredictionshavebeeneffective,i.e.regarding

thedevelopmentofmaritimeuniversitiesinPoland.

Irealized the difficulties with both tasks, equally

inIMOaswellas

inmaritimeeducation.

In foreseeable future artificial intelligence will

arise.Itslaunchisthebeginningofanewexistencein

which people will coexist with an unknown

intelligentspecies,whichinaddition developsfaster

thanwedo.

Man has never been in such situation. We have

always been brighter. It

carries great opportunities,

butalsofears:therefore,goodandbadsituations.

We do not know who will control their

independentactionsandifwewillbeabletocontrol

thematall,andifso,whatitisgoingtolooklike.

Is it possible to exercise control over something

that

ismoreintelligentthanweare?

Howcanweprotectourselvesfromevil?

Do we realize that after the machine learning

process,thereisachancethatwewillfindawayto

understandhowthebrainworks?

Currently, we are focused on the application of

artificial intelligence to rationality,

onʺthe ability to

reproduce the complex components of our

intelligence,thatislogicalthinking,decisionmaking,

symbol processing, but there are also many pieces

thatwedoperceiveʺ.[2]

Wehavenoabilitytocomprehendthecomparison

ofhumansensationbyrobotsensors.Buttheproblem

isnot the

computing power. Deep machine learning

allowsyoutogetresultsuptoacertainlevel.Itlacks

knowledgeofthe structureof thehumanbrain,ʺthe

abilitytounderstandandrejectbodilyintelligence,so

much developed in manʺ [2]. So far, artificial

intelligenceanditscomponentshavebeenfocusedon

high rationality as an electronic calculator for

commercialneeds.

831

If we change the perspective, if we create a

ʺcreatureʺ functioning as a human being, then it is

possiblethatwewillgetanswerstomany questions

that may have enormous consequences. Such a

possibilityexists.ScientistsatuniversitiesandSilicon

Valleyare now developingtwo ideas to connect

the

brains in the network, so‐called brainet and a

communication system based on sending messages

directlyfrombraintobrain.

The invention ofʺbrainetʺ would be the

embodimentof an idea straight from science fiction.

At the same time, it carries a risk. The brainet

becomesasystemthatyou

canhackinto.Thehacker

would have access to thoughts and behaviors of

people connected to the brainet. He would also be

abletomanipulatethem.

We already know that it is possible. In 2013

scientists from the University of Washington [3]

provedit.

Slowly people start to understand the

sense of

developmentandthedirectionofthistechnology.The

hitherto prevailing fascinations arising from the use

of artificial intelligence are slowly entering ethical

considerations in the form ofʺcreating shields,

appropriate emergency switches, in case of

inappropriate scientific activities and resentment to

humanoidrobotsʺ.[3]

What is next? It

 is complicated to answersuch a 

difficult problem, which the world has faced,

especially that it is associated with detailed, multi‐

directionalresearch,includingmaritimetransport.

Thefuturedependsontheskillsofcontemporary

and next generations in perceiving and solving

existingresearchproblems.



Szczecin,February2018



The text was

 submitted to the Editor in September

2018.



TranslationintoEnglish:MariaŁozińska,



Gdynia,December2018

REFERENCES

[1]Pietrzykowski Z., Automatyzacja procesów

zapobiegania kolizjom, Wyd.AM Szczecin 2017,

page102‐105

[2]Przegalińska‐SierakowskaA.‘Światzastolat?Więcejtego

co już jest, GazetaWyborcza, Magazynświąteczny, 9‐

10grudnia,2017pages8‐9

[3]TheWallStreetJournal,19.10.2017tłum.E.Dłu

żewska,

Wyborcza.pl/WSJ.