Leveraging the 4th Industrial Revolution Technology for Sustainable Development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR)—The Case Study of Autonomous Vessel
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Model Specifications
2.2. Scenario Design
- Scenario 1 is the comparison between total costs of vessel type i which is in summer (without ice condition) and NSR;
- Scenario 2 is the comparison between total costs of vessel type i which is in spring and fall (with broken ice condition) and NSR;
- Scenario 3 is the comparison between total costs of vessel type i which is in winter (with brash ice condition) and NSR;
- Scenario 4 is the comparison between total costs of vessel type i which is in winter and the Suez Route.
3. Results
3.1. The Concept of Application of the 4IR Technology on NSR Sailing
- Autonomous berthing and mooring support facility—If autonomous vessel degree two of the IMO autonomous ship level is achieved, then the number of crew is reduced to two. In that case, the crew only focus on the navigation and maintenance work. Therefore, the port and the gas terminal need a facility that supports autonomous berthing, pilotage, and mooring. The facility includes the sensors that guide the autonomous berthing and approach route and the mooring facility that uses magnetic power without mooring.
- Shore control center for remote operation—It is highly possible for degree one and two autonomous vessels to be supported by a remote operation control scheme where the shore control center (gas terminal) leads the voyage operation. Therefore, the shore control center needs to have a vast communication infrastructure that can exchange the data between the shore control center and the autonomous vessel. The navigation function and the process control function should be considered (equipped together) as well. The role of the current vessel traffic center and pilotage will be transferred to the shore control center.
- Maintenance and repair center—the maintenance of the autonomous vessel tends to be minimized during the voyage because of the limitation of the crew; therefore, overall and repair operations are conducted in the gas terminal.
- Autonomous loading and unloading arm—An LNG cargo needs to be loaded and unloaded with human intervention. If the autonomous vessel is equipped with an autonomous loading and unloading facility, then the gas terminal needs to be equipped with the corresponding functions.
3.2. Case Study
3.2.1. The Economic Benefits
3.2.2. The Social Benefits
4. Discussion
- Meteorological data accumulation—Meteorology forecast is the conclusive factor that can determine the efficiency and safety of autonomous vessels in the Arctic area. However, meteorological data in the Artic have been rarely studied.
- Route decision making solution model with ice—The state of the art for autonomous vessel route decision-making algorithms does not consider icebergs in the Arctic. To realize autonomous vessels in the Artic, a route decision-making algorithm based on iceberg conditions is essential.
- Autonomous process—the whole process of the LNG process that includes loading/unloading, vaporizing, liquefaction, and heating operations needs to be autonomous.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Acronyms/Abbreviations | Explanation |
---|---|
4IR | The 4th Industrial Revolution |
NSR | Northern Sea Route |
SCR | Suez Canal Route |
IMO | International Maritime Organization |
CO2 | Carbon Dioxide |
CapEx | Capital expenditure |
OpEx | Operational expenditure |
VoyEx | Voyage-related expenditure |
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Traditional Vessel | Degree One | Degree Two | |
---|---|---|---|
Function | Human-operated commercial vessel | Autonomous solution can assist the crew’s voyage | Autonomous solution can navigate by itself without human intervention |
IMO autonomous level | 0 | 1~2 | 3~4 |
Additional equipment compared to traditional vessel | Routing and collision avoidance solution, additional sensors (LiDAR, motion reference unit, camera) | Routing and collision avoidance solution, additional sensors (LiDAR, motion reference unit, camera), satellite communication with onshore, predictive maintenance and repair solution |
Factors | 1st Year | 20th Year * | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Traditional | Degree One | Degree Two | Traditional | Degree One | Degree Two | ||
Capex | 12.38 | 13.61 | 14.23 | 247.60 | 272.24 | 284.55 | |
Opex | Salary | 2.68 | 0.54 | 0.21 | 53.45 | 10.69 | 4.28 |
Education | 0.93 | 0.19 | 0.07 | 18.60 | 3.73 | 1.49 | |
VoyEx | Fuel | 10.78 | 9.70 | 8.62 | 215.53 | 193.98 | 172.42 |
Total | 26.76 | 24.04 | 23.13 | 535.18 | 480.64 | 462.74 | |
Differences with Traditional | 2.72 | 3.62 | 54.55 | 72.44 |
Scenario | Season | Route | Total Cost | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Traditional | Degree One | Degree Two | ||||||
1st Year | 20th Year | 1st Year | 20th Year | 1st Year | 20th Year | |||
1 | Summer (without ice condition) | Northern Sea Route | 17.43 | 348.46 | 15.65 | 312.94 | 15.14 | 301.29 |
2 | Spring/Fall (with broken ice condition) | Northern Sea Route | 22.53 | 450.90 | 20.24 | 404.94 | 19.48 | 389.87 |
3 | Winter (with brash ice condition) | Northern Sea Route | 26.89 | 535.18 | 24.15 | 480.64 | 23.25 | 462.74 |
4 | Winter Suez Route | Southern Sea Route | 31.08 | 621.69 | 28.01 | 560.24 | 26.27 | 525.32 |
Social Value | Environmental Benefit | Traditional | Degree 1 | Degree 2 |
---|---|---|---|---|
NSR (Scenario 3) | Gas Emissions | 100% | 78% | 62% |
Water Disposal | 100% | 25% | 10% | |
SCR (Scenario 4) | Gas Emissions | 116% | 90% | 72% |
Water Disposal | 170% | 37% | 25% |
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Lee, S.-W.; Jo, J.; Kim, S. Leveraging the 4th Industrial Revolution Technology for Sustainable Development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR)—The Case Study of Autonomous Vessel. Sustainability 2021, 13, 8211. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158211
Lee S-W, Jo J, Kim S. Leveraging the 4th Industrial Revolution Technology for Sustainable Development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR)—The Case Study of Autonomous Vessel. Sustainability. 2021; 13(15):8211. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158211
Chicago/Turabian StyleLee, Sung-Woo, Jisung Jo, and Sewon Kim. 2021. "Leveraging the 4th Industrial Revolution Technology for Sustainable Development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR)—The Case Study of Autonomous Vessel" Sustainability 13, no. 15: 8211. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158211