Last month, a curious 12m boat, hull emblazoned with yellow and white stripes, returned to Plymouth after a three-week mission mapping 1,000km² of ocean floor. Its crew, however, had never left Essex. From there, they had guided the USV Maxlimer remotely. USV stands for Uncrewed Surface Vessel and it is hoped that such craft can help map all of the globe’s ocean floors by the end of the decade.

On the same day – August 14 – a similar vessel was pulling into the Naval base at Faslane – the difference being that RNMB Harrier can deploy its scanning capabilities to hunt for mines. And this month, had it not been for Covid-19 restrictions, a sleek uncrewed trimaran would have left Plymouth, marking the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim Fathers crossing for America.

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) will now have to make that journey next year. But it is operational, and remains a stark statement of how far sea transport has come in the intervening centuries.

The modern Mayflower uses an artificial intelligence “captain” to self-navigate without human intervention – even in the open ocean without data connectivity. Its technology, like the semi-autonomous “over-the-horizon” systems of the Maxlimer, suggest that after thousands of years of seafaring, sailors in future may increasingly be on-board computers, or landlubbers using remote-control.

And for a host of reasons, from safety to cost to carbon emissions, the advances made by small futuristic-looking vessels like the Mayflower and the Maxlimer are already coming to far larger and more workmanlike craft – from ferries to cargo ships.

Ships

Take the Falco. Some 18 months ago, the 53.8 metre long car ferry, which entered service with Finferries in 1993, set sail from Parainen, in southern Finland, and sailed just over a mile to the Nauvo archipelago. There were 80 passengers on board, but no captain at the helm. Instead the boat was fully automated. On its return journey, it was controlled remotely, from the city of Turku, 30 miles away.

The most significant of this new breed of boat, however, will carry not passengers but freight. Yara Birkeland is a 80m container ship under construction which is both autonomous and electric.

Its parent company, Norwegian fertiliser producer Yara, claims it will reduce truck haulage by 40,000 journeys a year, and calls it “a game changer”. Perhaps. But there’s a long way to go.

Goods are transported in TEUs – “20ft equivalent units”, like shipping containers. The Yara Birkeland is a 120-TEU ship. The world’s biggest conventional container ship, at 400m long, is the OOCL Hong Kong, and can carry 21,413 TEUs.

Still, Rolls-Royce, predicts that remote controlled ocean going ships will be active by 2030, and fully autonomous ocean going ships will be on the seas by 2035.

“Autonomous shipping is the future of the maritime industry,” notes Mikael Mäkinen, president of its marine division. “As disruptive as the smartphone, the smart ship will revolutionise the landscape of ship design and operations.”