The POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF THE DEPLOYMENT OF MARITIME AUTONOMOUS SURFACE SHIPS ON THE MARITIME FREIGHT TRANSPORT PROCESS

Abstract

Two global processes affect all developments in our lives already today, most likely their influence in both the short and long term will continue to grow and will force us to consider the challenges and consequences arising from them more and more. These two global processes are, on the one hand, climate change and, on the other hand, the rapid development of digital technologies and the related large-scale digital transformation. Digital transformation is not only a technological innovation, but, like climate change, affects all processes related to human activity, including in the maritime sector. According to the general opinion, climate change is considered as a negative phenomenon and digitization as a positive factor to reduce the negative effects of climate change. It is often even believed that new, mainly digital technologies, and automation are the main “magic wand” with which humanity can stop negative climate-related developments and prevent the worst that could happen. But are all accompanying risks that affect the overall picture always considered? The authors of this paper examine one of the important parts of maritime, which is the transportation of goods by sea, and try to point out not only the positive aspects but also the challenges of digitization, including in the context of environmental impacts. The results of the study conducted are not as clear-cut as one might think; the interactions between climate change and maritime digitization processes are more complex than it might seem at first glance, and in different situations they can affect each other in different ways. The authors of the paper go through the different stages of the process of shipping goods by sea and try to give an assessment of possible factors emerging during the digitization of maritime transport, mainly in the context of climate change impacts and combating them.