The tide is turning

Autonomous vehicles are slowly but surely infiltrating the world we inhabit. Google’s work with driverless cars in California is well documented, with several big automotive names also showing an interest and investing heavily. For better or worse - unmanned aerial drones are now a major component of military operations, used to both gather intelligence and deliver airstrikes. When it comes to rail, metro systems around the globe are beginning to embrace automation, and a London Underground served by driverless trains in the near future is not difficult to envisage.

Up until now, however, shipping has tended to buck the trend somewhat. Research into autonomous ships is underway, but the same level of progress that we have seen across other modes of transport has yet to be realised. With over 90 per cent of world trade taking place via the oceans, autonomous systems represent an opportunity to revolutionise shipping, significantly reducing both its cost and environmental impact.