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MAROFF-2-Maritim virksomhet og offsh-2

Automated safety solutions for passenger ferries

Alternative title: Automatiserte sikkerhetsløsninger for passasjerferger

Awarded: NOK 11.0 mill.

The project's vision was to contribute to the realisation of short distance and automated passenger transport on water by finding solutions to the fundamental problem of ensuring passenger safety with few or no crew onboard. During the 5-10 years period prior to project start-up, the maritime industry witnessed a significant upswing in the global interest in - and development of, technology and technological solutions for realising autonomous transport solutions at sea. The Norwegian maritime cluster being in the absolute forefront of development. Up until then however, systems and solutions enabling safe navigation and manoeuvring of the ship received the lion share of attention, and few concrete suggestions were published on how to reduce or eliminate the need for onboard safety manning for passenger ferries. Hence, in order to realise the full potential inherent in autonomy, there was an explicit need to develop new knowledge on how to design novel automated safety systems for small- and medium-sized passenger vessels (pax capacity 15-150). As such, AutoSafe has made important contributions to building the required knowledge, and thereby contribute to close a critical gap towards the realisation of seabased autonomous passenger transport solutions. The AutoSafe project provides the first holistic analysis of the risks associated with uncrewed passenger transport, including a novel method for assessment of risks and crewing requirements. Moreover, the following main activities shaped the work carried out and results of the project: 1. Identification of relevant operational risks, with related preventative measures and consequence reducing measures. 2. Develop a method for identification of relevant risks, incl. relevant barriers and consequences. 3. Develop novel design criteria and conceptual safety solutions particularly suited for low- or unmanned passenger ships. 4. Support the maritime industry in the process of documenting novel safety solutions through the development of new methods and tools. Parts of the project results are also relevant for industry actors involved in cargo transport, including authorities, both for safety of ship and cargo.

Outcomes: Through a comprehensive Hazid process, a thorough list of different risks associated with low-or uncrewed seabased passenger transport where documented, along with possible risk reducing measures and preventive actions in case of unwanted events. The project has developed a novel safety model for identification of important risks associated with passenger transport at sea. It also supports the identification of related technical and operational barriers for unwanted events and situations and shows how these are connected to the risks identified. The model also serves as an important basis for assessing the implications on crew requirements regarding different roles, competence and number. The model also includes causative events and outcomes, including how potential negative consequences can be reduced. The Book chapter "New Design Solutions and Procedures for Ensuring Meaningful Human Control and Interaction with Autonomy: Automated Ferries in Profile" describes a framework for how to analyse gaps regarding rules and regulations of the proposed design of automated passenger ferries. The framework builds on task analysis to close these gaps through new operational procedures and meaningful information exchange between remote operators, passengers, and the automated functions. This framework holistically addresses the system operation and provides the basis of risk analysis and safety assurance. Identification of a set of generic and pre-competitive design criteria as input to the development of seabased solutions for passenger transport, including the ship itself, quay/dock, safety equipment, and work processes between relevant main actors. The project has documented its results in various reports, a book chapter and several publications, thereby securing communication of its outcome to the R&D community, but also to the industry and the Norwegian Maritime Authority. The latter as important input to regulatory development. Impacts: The results represent important contributions towards minimizing the risks associated with the development, design and operation of autonomous vessel concepts for passenger transport. Hence, also critical knowledge on different considerations that must be taken when new transport solutions for improved mobility are to be developed. The project ha also elevated the understanding and importance of industrial co-operation among the project partners, across different actors in the value chain, with dialogue and exchange of technical expertise and operational knowledge as key elements.

With reference to the described project objectives, the project results will contribute to realise the approval of lower or no onboard safety manning for small and medium sized autonomous passenger vessels operating near-shore. The last 5-10 years we have witnessed a significant upswing in the global interest in – and development of – technology and technological solutions for realising autonomous transport solutions at sea. With the Norwegian maritime cluster being in the absolute forefront of development. So far, systems and solutions enabling safe navigation (e.g. auto-crossing, auto-docking and anti-collision) has been main areas of focus. One important objective behind this development is the potential for reduced operational cost through reduced manning. However, in order to realise this potential, there is an explicit need to develop new knowledge on how to design novel automated safety systems for small- and medium-sized passenger vessels (pax capacity 15-100). As such, AutoSafe will build the required knowledge and thereby contribute to close a critical gap towards the realisation of seabased autonomous passenger transport solutions. The AutoSafe project will provide the first holistic analysis of the risks associated with uncrewed passenger transport. This includes a novel method for assessment of risks and crewing requirements. It is also expected that the project will develop new methods, systems, and design principles for ensuring passenger safety as well as a method for approval of passenger safety on uncrewed ships. The project partnership is highly interdisciplinary, covering key elements of the maritime value chain by combining world leading research and industry partners. This is necessary to reach the ambitious objectives and all partners are committed to contribute to this goal.

Publications from Cristin

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Funding scheme:

MAROFF-2-Maritim virksomhet og offsh-2