Exploring the barriers to autonomous shipping

Abstract

The adoption of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) in commercial shipping presents significant challenges despite rapid technological advancements. This study explores the barriers to the commercial adoption of MASS. Through a systematic literature review, 60 barriers were identified and categorized into four themes: (1) human factors, (2) data and risk management, (3) technology and connectivity, and (4) operations and policy. To reveal the most critical barriers, the importance-improvement (A-B) analysis was conducted utilizing data collected from maritime stakeholders. The analysis revealed that the most critical barriers include the trustworthiness of autonomous technology, managing loss of autonomous control system, vulnerabilities to cyberattacks, and the complexities of regulatory compliance in system development and deployment. Future resources and investments should be directed towards addressing the most critical barriers identified in this study for ensuring the successful integration of MASS in commercial shipping.