Will the sailors "work from home" someday?
Challenge Tokyo Bay with an automatic ship April 13, 17:55
"Working from home" for seafarers.
Maybe it will happen in the future.
Autonomous driving technology that is evolving day by day.
The progress extends to the sea.
In March, a successful demonstration experiment on the route connecting Tokyo Bay and Ise Bay became a hot topic in the shipping industry.
How could it change the way seafarers work?
We will approach the latest experiment.
(Taichi Yokoyama, Reporter, Ministry of Economic Affairs)
World's first automatic navigation in congested waters
On March 1st, there was big news in the shipping industry.
The container ship "Suzaku" (total length 95 meters, total tons 749 tons) developed by a group made by about 30 companies, including major domestic shipping companies and ship equipment manufacturers, is now available in Tokyo Bay (Tokyo Port) and Ise Bay (Tsumatsuzaka, Mie Prefecture). We succeeded in automatic navigation of 790 km round trip (port).
Of note is the area of navigation.
Tokyo Bay and Ise Bay are particularly congested with heavy traffic, so strict speed restrictions are required by law.
Of these, Tokyo Bay is the "accident-prone area" next to the Seto Inland Sea, with 119 vessels causing marine accidents in the second year of Reiwa.
Among them, the average number of vessels that go to and from Uraga Suido, which is the gateway to Tokyo Bay, is 520 a day.
Many small fishing boats and pleasure boats also come and go on a scale that competes for one or two in Japan.
In this experiment, the minimum number of seafarers was also on board for safety, but including these difficult points, 98% of the 40 hours of round trip was automatically sailed.
The development group says that automatic navigation in such crowded waters is "the world's first".
Ship surveillance From a room in the building
Actually, the monitoring work of the ship this time was done in a certain place far away from the ship.
This office building is located a 3-minute walk from Kaihin Makuhari Station on the JR Keiyo Line in Chiba City.
In one room of this building, an "operation support center" was set up to remotely monitor automatically operated vessels.
The support center is equipped with multiple large monitors and personal computers, collects weather data and traffic volume on the route, and also monitors the navigation status, so to speak, it acts like an aircraft control tower.
A communication system that connects the sea and land has also been developed, and information on the radar attached to the ship and images taken by the camera can be obtained in the same way as in the control room.
There is also a remote cockpit in one corner.
The appearance of the images from the bridge and the information of the instruments on the many monitors on the front is just like the cockpit of the robot that appears in the science fiction anime.
In an emergency, you can even fly a ship hundreds of kilometers away from here using satellite lines.
The latest domestic and foreign technologies that support automatic navigation
The latest technology in Japan and overseas supports automatic navigation by remote monitoring.
One of them is a high-precision radar device called "millimeter wave radar" developed by a ship equipment manufacturer headquartered in Hyogo prefecture.
This technology, which is also used for autonomous driving of cars, has made it possible to grasp small fishing boats and small objects such as fishing gear, which were previously difficult to detect accurately.
In addition, we have established a technology to automatically correct errors in radar images, and it is now possible to capture small ships in the immediate vicinity of the hull with radar, which is said to have greatly improved safety.
The accuracy of AI = artificial intelligence that analyzes such information has also improved significantly.
Adopted AI developed by an Israeli company and enhanced with a learning function called deep learning.
In preparation for the demonstration experiment, we attached a high-sensitivity infrared camera to the cargo ship and repeated navigation for half a year from September last year.
AI learns the information obtained there, including images and climatic conditions, to improve the technology to predict the movement of surrounding ships and avoid them automatically.
It has become possible to navigate in crowded waters.
Satoru Kuwahara, the leader of the development group who has worked as a seafarer for more than 10 years and has a qualification as a captain, says that he felt the high judgment of AI, which is comparable to the maneuvering of seafarers.
Development Group Leader Satoru Kuwahara
"In Tokyo Bay, there were times when multiple ships were approaching at the same time, but AI was steadily deciding which way to steer. Always predicting the movement of other ships. I was surprised at the scene where I felt that it was faster than people's judgment. "
Change the "working style" of seafarers by automatic operation
In fact, Mr. Kuwahara wanted to confirm the practicality of automatic navigation through this experiment, as well as to show the "future way of working" of seafarers.
The number of seafarers on domestic cargo ships and passenger ships will be more than 28,000 in 2020.
It has decreased by almost half in the last 30 years.
As for the age structure, 45% are in their 50s or older, and aging is also an issue.
One of the reasons young people can avoid it is the harsh working environment.
The total monthly working hours of cargo ship seafarers is 238 hours.
Compared to the transportation / postal industry (187 hours) and the construction industry (180 hours), it is by far the highest.
It is believed that not only when sailing, but also cargo loading and unloading work after arriving at the port leads to long working hours.
Furthermore, in a survey conducted by the national government on more than 2,000 seafarers, the percentage of people who were considered "highly stressed" was about 15%.
It is also the second highest level in all industries after the manufacturing industry, and it has also become clear that young people and inexperienced seafarers are particularly prone to stress.
Once you go on a voyage, you may not be able to return home for several months, and the unique environment where you have to spend breaks with your boss and seniors in the closed space of the ship seems to be leading to stress. increase.
Sailor's "working from home"?
Mr. Kuwahara hopes that if this technology, which can monitor and maneuver ships from land using the latest radar and AI, will be put into practical use, it will be possible to significantly change the way seafarers work.
It goes without saying that it will reduce the burden on seafarers on board, but by strengthening functions such as monitoring a large number of ships at the same time from the support center, it will increase "seafarers' land work" and reduce stress peculiar to seafarers. Because it connects.
A man who worked at a land support center for this experiment and participated as an engineer who collects and monitors information on the engine and electrical system of a ship that is automatically navigating also felt the benefits of working on land.
An engineer working at the support center
"If you are on land, you can go to a convenience store, and you can make a video call with your family on your smartphone during breaks. I felt that the burden was much less than when working on a ship."
In the future, if the environment is set up, such as strengthening the security of data management collected, the day may come when seafarers will monitor large vessels from home using personal computers.
Mr. Satoru Kuwahara, Leader of the Development Group
"The work of seafarers is rewarding, but it is natural that we cannot return to land for several months, and in crowded waters, the mental and physical burden of avoiding accidents is heavy. I think it's okay for seafarers to work from home someday. It's our mission to create a comfortable working environment for the younger generation. "
Shipping that supports logistics Reduces the burden of urgent need
Shipping that supports 40% of domestic logistics.
It emits less carbon dioxide than trucks, and it is expected that demand will increase in the future as an environmentally friendly means of transportation.
I would like to pay attention to how the technology of automated operation will be utilized not only as a countermeasure against labor shortages but also to make seafarers an attractive profession for young people.
Taichi Yokoyama , a
reporter from the Ministry of Economic Affairs , joined the station in
2013.
After working at the Toyama station and Takamatsu station, he is currently affiliated.