In the field of intelligent ships, it is still a blue ocean!

Last month, the world's first far-reaching sea green intelligent technology test ship began construction. The ship is jointly invested by Taihu Laboratory of Deep Sea Technology Science and Lianyungang Center of Deep Sea Technology Science Taihu Laboratory, and CSSC Chengxi Ship Repair Co., Ltd. is responsible for the construction, classified into China Classification Society, the ship port is Lianyungang, and is scheduled to be delivered in early 2025.

The ship can achieve three main functions: Marine testing, verification and demonstration application of intelligent devices, equipment and systems, demonstration and verification of key technologies of deep-sea equipment, and operation support for far-reaching Marine science experiments.

The ship uses the first set of domestic intelligent medium-speed engine and the intelligent information system MarineNet independently developed by Taihu Laboratory, which can realize intelligent navigation, energy efficiency optimization, health management, safety control, ship-shore coordination and other intelligent functions, and support the "collection, storage and calculation" of the whole ship's man-machine-material life cycle data. In addition, it can also realize the convenient addition/replacement and dynamic testing functions of the ship's key components, equipment and systems.

The ship has a total length of 110.8 meters, a width of 20.0 meters, a displacement of about 7,000 tons, a design speed of 15 knots, a endurance of 10,000 nautical miles, a seating capacity of 80 people, and a global navigation capability with unlimited navigation area. After completion, it will focus on ensuring the far-reaching strategic needs of China's maritime equipment.

01 | What is a smart ship?

According to the definition of "Smart Ship Code (2020)" issued by China Classification Society CCS, smart ship refers to the use of sensors, communication, Internet of things, Internet and other technical means to automatically perceive and obtain information and data of the ship itself, Marine environment, logistics, port and other aspects, and based on computer technology, automatic control technology and big data processing and analysis technology. Intelligent operation of ships in ship navigation, management, maintenance, cargo transportation, etc., in order to make ships safer, more environmentally friendly, more economical and more efficient.

At the international level, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and other institutions vigorously promote the development of standards related to smart ships. ISO develops standards around terminology and data related to autonomous ship systems, network security, and communication protocols. IEC standardization work in the area of smart ships focuses on the performance requirements of maritime navigation and radio communication equipment and systems.

02 | Intelligent ship aspect, our country is still in the initial stage

China's shipbuilding industry has gone through 70 years of development, and the modern scientific and technological innovation system of shipbuilding industry has basically taken shape. However, in terms of intelligent ships, the development of intelligent ships in China is still in the initial stage, and its technology research and development is still a big gap compared with foreign countries, and the market application is also more limited, but the relevant industries have recognized the importance of unmanned intelligent ships, and have launched research and exploration in all aspects.

At the end of 2015, CSSC released China's earliest intelligent ship type design, model 38800tiDOLPHIN, its construction time from September of the next year to 2017 delivery, lasting a long time, during this period, including China Shipbuilding Industry System Engineering Research Institute and CSSC, Shanghai Shipbuilding Research Institute and other relevant units are involved in its construction. Since then, domestic unmanned ship technology has entered a period of rapid development, and the intelligent ship development roadmap has become clearer.

Among them, China Classification Society and IMO's "E-Navigation" project are the most representative development roadmap. Different organizations have different results in the development of smart ships due to different factors, but they still have a lot in common. What is clear is that fully autonomous unmanned ships are the ultimate goal of all smart ship development, and all smart ship development is centered around this goal.

In addition, the development of smart ships needs to follow the principle of gradual progress, and its design and construction should be carried out step by step in accordance with the specifications and plans, and this phased development method has also obtained unanimous recognition of different ship development roadmap.

From the world's point of view, the world's smart ships have now completed the first stage of development, is moving to the second stage of excessive, and combined with the reality of our country, China's smart ships in the first stage and the second stage of the combined development period, specifically, the development of China's smart ships is divided into three time points: In 2020, 2025 and 2035, and in these three time points, the first generation of smart ships with integrated data applications, the second generation of smart ships with partial autonomy and remote control, and the third generation of fully autonomous smart ships.

03 | Intelligent ships represent the future direction of shipping

According to the "In-depth Research and Investment Prospects Analysis Report on the Development of China's intelligent ship Industry (2023-2030)" released by the Research Report network, in recent years, China has continued to strongly support technological innovation in the field of Marine ships, focusing on increasing domestic equipment research and development efforts. Domestic substitution has risen to a national strategy, and in the release of the "Smart Ship Development Action Plan 2019-2020", China has also clarified the key tasks to be solved in the development of smart ships.

In addition, with the rapid development of China's Marine industry and the rapid progress of science and technology, electronic information technology is playing a more and more important role in shipbuilding and the field, and has become an important support for the shipbuilding industry. At present, smart ships are also a clear focus of development in the "Made in China 2025", which represents the future direction of ships and is related to the transformation and upgrading of the shipping industry.

In 2021, the market size of China's smart ship industry was 40.48 billion yuan, down 22.62% from the previous year. In 2022, the market size of China's smart ship industry was 43.26 billion yuan, reversing the downward trend, mainly because of the gradual recovery of downstream demand.

In the past five years, the market size has been relatively stable. Intelligent ship hardware equipment is the specific carrier of intelligent ship, including various sensing equipment, communication equipment, navigation equipment and so on.

04 | The market demand for smart ships will continue to increase

From the perspective of China's ship ownership, in recent years, China's ship ownership has declined, but the overall level is maintained at a high level, and in 2022, China's ship ownership is 125,400, which continues to maintain a downward trend.

At present, the overall scale of China's shipbuilding industry has entered the ranks of the world's major powers. From the changes in the share of China's shipbuilding industry in the world shipbuilding market in recent years, it can be seen that the proportion of China's shipbuilding industry in the global market is rising significantly, and China has become one of the world's important shipbuilding centers. In the long run, with the intelligent development of the shipbuilding industry, the demand for smart ships will continue to increase.

05 Jingtai view | At present, the field of Marine AI is still a blue ocean

At present, the field of Marine AI is still a blue ocean, and domestic intelligent shipping has just started, and the intelligent upgrade of shipping is a track worthy of attention.

From the perspective of merchant shipping operations, smart ships are mostly still in the stage of application of intelligent ship technology. At the same time, there are experts working on autonomous smart ships, which may be the highest version of smart ships. There may be many transitional versions in the middle, such as remote-controlled ships. With the continuous improvement of ship automation, the operating system of shipping companies will also undergo subversive changes. The application of intelligent technology in merchant ships corresponds to the operating system of shipping companies, and shipping companies are constantly improving their operational capabilities and the entire operation plan through intelligent means.

As the inevitable trend of future ship development, intelligent ships are also the mainstream leading the development of the future shipping era. Although the existing technology level has not been able to achieve autonomous navigation and commercial operation, with the continuous progress of digital and intelligent technology, coupled with the rapid development of the Internet of Things, information technology, artificial intelligence, and 5G communication technology, the development prospects of intelligent ships are promising.