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Sailing Drone

Discussion in 'General Sailing Discussion' started by brian eiland, Jan 12, 2014.

  1. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    On November4th, 2013, Saildrone 1 arrived in Kaneohe, Hawaii, 34 days after leaving San Francisco. This amazing accomplishment sets a new world record for a autonomous sailboats as well as being the first unmanned and autonomous vessel to cross an ocean using wind power


    Saildrone completes pacific crossing after arriving in hawaii
  2. brian eiland

    brian eiland Senior Member

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    Perhaps wing-sailed yachts are in our future, if this unmanned vessel can sail across the ocean without capsize or reefing :cool:

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  3. HTMO9

    HTMO9 Senior Member

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    Unmanned vessels

    Hello Brian,

    I believe, this is a great idea. Using unmanned vehicles for scientific or surveillance purposes both in the air and on the oceans have a lot of advantages.

    From the commercial point of view, the amount of space, occupied by the crew and the necessary weight added for creature comfort, only reduces payload. On extended cruises, this is the most limiting factor. And on top of that, those crewmembers ask for payment and vacation :eek:. Means, for specific purposes, this will be the future.

    But on the oceans, there is still a little problem. The international laws of the sea (which are from the last centuries) are against unmanned vessels. If you find a vessel in international waters with no crew onboard, you may take possession of this vessel, period. This laws have to be adopted first and then signed by all seafaring nations, otherwise this kind of piracy will be legal.

    Technically this is possible already. The Maersk shipping company has a large cargovessel (over 1000 ft long) under developement, which has a permanent crew of only 3 but is able to cruise totally unmanned. The remaining crew is only needed to prove the ownership, while in international waters.

    When leaving or entering the harbour, the ship has a harbour crew of almost 30 people. They do the rope handling with the tug boats, secure the cargo (lashing containers) and change the ship into open sea mode. As soon as the ship reaches open waters, the harbour crew is leaving the ship together with the pilot and waites on station for the next incomming ship, in order to assist in bringing it to port.

    As soon as IMO and SOLAS rules are adopted and the UN convention about the laws of the sea is modified, this type of ship will come for sure and the ILO will not be able to stop this process in the long run. The technology is ready. The "Flying Dutchman" will be the future of merchant shipping :D. I am confident, my sons will have to deal with this kind of shipping.

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  4. Marmot

    Marmot Senior Member

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    The ILO is not a union or a crewing agency, it has no mandate to generate or maintain seafarer employment. The ILO does not "try to stop" technological progress in the shipping industry.

    It exists only to make sure that people who work are treated fairly. Period.
  5. HTMO9

    HTMO9 Senior Member

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    Ilo

    Marmot, erverything you said is correct. But it seems you have not delt with their European or German subsidiaries yet and have encountered their influence on unions, gorvernmental and rule making agencies. Thats why so many shipping companies from my area are flying offshore flags on their ships.

    I believe, the existence of ILO and unions are a must. Without them, many crews would still be treated like slaves and live under circumstances, which could not concidered as creature comfort.

    But unions have the tendency to block or slow down technical evolution, just because it will cost jobs. This is ok, because thats part of their job. Agreements like the boilerman on electric lokomotives or the conductor on a modern one man public bus are typical examples. But the total blockade of evulotion will cost most likely all jobs in your field of business, if somebody with a different ruling "corset" is allowed to adopt this new technology.