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There are millions of ships on the ocean ranging from small privately owned boats to massive cargo ships, and everything in between. While many of the smaller ships are captained by a regular person who is just out on the water to have some fun, larger vessels like cargo ships, cruise ships, navy ships, and others all have to have a highly skilled and experienced person at the helm.
That may all be changing.
Blue Water Autonomy is a US tech company that is dedicated to creating an AI powered system that could create autonomous ships to navigate the globe more safely and efficiently. This company recently had a $14 million round of funding, and they are already testing their tech on the ocean.
Since its founding in 2024, this company has been dedicated to the idea of improving the shipping industry around the world. The leaders of the company have lots of experience in the world of robotics and autonomous technology, with people coming from iRobot, Amazon Robotics, the US Navy, and other major players.
While their goal is to build the technology that would allow virtually every ship on the ocean to be controlled by their AI systems, their first target is the US Military.
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In a statement, the co-founder and CEO of Blue Water Autonomy, Rylan Hamilton, said:
“Sea power has been the bedrock of America’s security and prosperity for centuries. We believe the entire maritime economy is in need of transformation – it starts with supporting the US Navy which needs dynamic industrial partners to bring top technology to its sailors, including ocean-going, fully autonomous ships.”
Seth Winterroth is a partner at the venture capital firm, Eclipse, which recently put in significant funding. He added to the statement, saying:
“The US military needs more than incremental improvements to meet the moment and maintain its status on the global stage. Autonomous ships are critical to enable the Navy to continue securing deterrence given the threat of China and Russia and the importance of shipping lanes in the Pacific.”
Could an AI system really operate this type of massively heavy equipment safely and efficiently?
The short answer is clearly yes. In fact, many people wonder why this hasn’t happened some time ago. The technology for autonomous cars and even planes is already in use in many places. Cars and planes generally move much more quickly, and cars are in places that are often far more congested than a ship will encounter.
So, if properly developed, the AI system from this company should be able to easily operate these ships, even the largest of cargo ships.
There are many benefits to using an autonomous system to control ships including dramatically reduced staff since the AI can run 24/7 without needing rest, and more precise controls. In addition, an AI will be able to evaluate complex conditions faster than any human ever could. Another important point is that without the need for humans to captain the ship, there is no need for crew quarters (at least for the control staff). This means more room for additional cargo.
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Another benefit could include the fact that if a ship is entirely unmanned, pirates may not have a reason to attempt to take over the vessel. Pirates today often take hostages and demand a ransomed, which would not be possible on an unmanned ship. While they could try to steal the cargo, that would be difficult given their size and the fact that the ship could immediately communicate with authorities and even reroute toward a navy or police ship to capture the pirates if possible.
While there is no word yet on when this type of program will hit the high seas, it is likely going to be sooner than many people think. Once all the potential issues are worked out, it is likely that many of the largest ships on the waters will be completely unmanned.
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