The calendar says that it’s spring, and in many parts of the United States, that means getting ready for pleasure boating season.
Most pleasure boat owners prefer to pilot the vessel themselves, charting their own course on open waters. But, like autonomous cars, self-driving boats have moved past the drawing board into the test phase. For example, the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research recently demonstrated autonomous unmanned boats, guided by software, radar and other sensors with remote human supervision.
For the global shipping industry, autonomous vessels have the potential to provide significant cost savings by using drone ships that can navigate themselves. Some shipping industry experts project that reducing the crew could eliminate up to 50 percent of the total cost of operating a container ship while also eliminating much of the on-board infrastructure needed to support the crew, resulting in 12 to 15 percent savings in fuel costs.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Rosalie Donlon
Rosalie Donlon is the editor in chief of ALM's insurance and tax publications, including NU Property & Casualty magazine and NU PropertyCasualty360.com. You can contact her at [email protected].
