In 2021, one of the world's largest container ships ran aground in the Suez Canal, blocking one of the main gateways to global trade, with an estimated daily trade of $9.6 billion. Accidents like the one the ship was involved in then Ever Given They are more common than we might think. Furthermore, they help explain the motivation behind EU research projects to improve maritime safety.
In 2022, according to the global insurer Allianz, ten cargo ships were lost at sea. With 90% of the world's goods transported by sea, maritime accidents can be devastating globally, hampering trade, damaging the environment and endangering human lives.
“Anyone reading this comment I'm making will be wearing, for example, some item of clothing that was once transported by a ship,” says Jorgen Grindevoll, CEO of Ladar, a British company that develops anti-collision technology for ships and marine infrastructure. “The fact that a ship has problems can be very disruptive,” says Grindevoll, who is also a ship captain.
Grindevoll has been part of an EU-funded research project to develop a “watch that never sleeps”: a sensor technology that seeks to reduce the risk of ships colliding with other vessels or floating objects. The project, called MARINE, comes to an end after almost three years of duration. Its participants include Ladar, the Cypriot naval technology company Offshore Monitoring, which has also been the project coordinator, the Norwegian company specialized in sensor technology Hjelmstad and the British company Global Maritime Services, as well as captains and navigation officers.
According to Jena Dover, business development manager at Global Maritime Services, the research team analyzed several major ship mishaps and found that almost half of them were collisions, and of these, 59% were due to human error. “This shows the magnitude of the problem,” says Dover.
MARINA's lasers, high-definition cameras and thermal imaging systems are responsible for detecting floating objects such as containers, wooden planks, boats and fishing gear so that navigation officers can detect possible threats on the surface of the water, their main blind spot. An artificial intelligence algorithm can automatically detect, recognize and monitor objects and alert the crew of any potential threats. That is much more than the best technology available on the market allows right now.
“Today, a ship can scan the seabed with sonar and detect everything above the water with radar,” says Grindevoll. “However, there is a blind spot right on the surface, and this is what we are trying to solve.”
Flood prevention
In the worst case scenario, when a ship runs aground, limiting damage is crucial to saving lives and protecting equipment. This is the objective of FLARE, another EU-funded project. The project, which came to an end in November 2022 after three and a half years in operation, proposed improvements in ship design to limit damage caused by flooding to accident ships.
“There are still many aspects in which our designs and procedures could be safer,” explains Stephan Wurst, managing partner of BALance Technology Consulting, the German company that led the project. For example, damage from grounding (when the hull of a ship hits the seabed) can be devastating.
In 2012, the cruise ship called Costa Concordia It got too close to the Italian island of Giglio and crashed into rocks. The accident claimed the lives of 32 people, caused the partial sinking of the ship and involved a rescue operation that cost 1.5 billion euros.
“We have focused on improving the design principles to prevent water from getting everywhere, but also on how to improve evacuation and safety procedures,” explains Wurst. Computer simulations of how ships sink, as well as simulated sinking of model ships in a controlled environment, have helped the research group determine where these improvements should be made.
Under the project, a detailed list of recommendations has been submitted to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the governing body of the maritime sector. Wurst indicates that such recommendations range from blocking the entry of water into a ship with barriers and watertight doors in the hull, to plugging holes with foam. While the proposals are still being evaluated by the IMO, participants in the project, including the Finnish shipyard Meyer Turku and the British cruise operator Carnival, are already applying the knowledge gained on their new ships. “Our research has not only been at a theoretical level,” says Wurst. “What is learned within the framework of this project can really save lives.”
Meanwhile, the surface exploration technology developed by MARINA is about to be commercialized. Grindevoll expects it to be ready for market in early 2024. In his opinion, this technology can have applications that go beyond collision prevention, such as its use in unmanned ships and in the monitoring of offshore facilities, like wind turbines. “We have realized that our technology can also be used in other sectors,” says Grindevoll.
Article originally published in horizonthe European Union's research and innovation magazine.
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