Investigation of Blockchain for Cybersecurity in Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships

Abstract

As Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) become increasingly prevalent, cybersecurity emerges as a critical challenge due to the reliance on interconnected digital systems. Blockchain technology offers promising solutions to enhance data security, transparency and operational resilience. However, the high energy consumption of blockchain creates a dilemma for the maritime sector to meet low-carbon and sustainability targets. Identifying strategies balancing energy consumption with the security benefits brought by blockchain is therefore essential. This research aims to examine the integration of blockchain to improve cybersecurity, operational efficiency and data integrity in MASS. The study contributes to an integration of a literature review, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT), threats, opportunities, weaknesses, strengths (TOWS) analysis with a practitioner survey, providing strategic insights into blockchain to strengthen cybersecurity frameworks for MASS. Findings of SWOT-TOWS highlight blockchain's potential to improve cybersecurity and automate functions through smart contracts, while identifying significant barriers such as scalability, energy consumption, etc. Survey results show strong industry support for blockchain's role in enhancing cybersecurity, particularly in communication and automation systems. Respondents emphasised the importance of protocols and transaction speed. The study concludes with strategic recommendations and policy considerations to guide effective blockchain integration in MASS.