Baltic Sea Region as a leading region for autonomous shipping

Time:         14th June, 13.45 – 15.15
Venue:        Rathenau-Saal

Description:

Increased autonomy in shipping has the potential to reduce the environmental impact of shipping and increase safety, especially in a situation with increased shipping volumes in the Baltic Sea as foreseen in Vision 2030. The region is in the forefront of the development in this area and if it proves successful, it has the potential to increase growth. Thus, it has the potential to contribute to the sub-objective clean and safe shipping as well as all three pillars of the EUSBSR.

Speakers, panelists, moderator:

• Sauli Eloranta (Executive Vice President, E&T, Rolls-Royce)
• Aleksi Uttula (Finnish Transport Safety Agency)
• Thomas Eefsen (Chief Commercial Officer, Odense Maritime Technology)
• Prof. Dr. Volker Bertram (DNV GL/Visiting Professor, WMU, moderator)

Organiser(s) & contact details:

• Danish Maritime Authority
  Ditte Folke Henriksen, Head of Section, Policy Area Coordinator, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. +45 91 37 62 26
  Cilia Sonne Allermann, Head of Section, Assistant Policy Area Coordinator, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. +45 91 37 61 83
• Finnish Transport Safety Agency
  Jouni Lappalainen, Special Adviser, Policy Area Coordinator, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it./ + 358 295 345 297
  Hannu Laurikainen, Special Adviser, Assistant Policy Area Coordinator, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it./ +358 295 346 220

Elaboration:

Autonomous shipping is a much debated topic in the maritime sector. The Baltic Sea Region and Northern Europe in general are in the forefront of the development in this area and if it proves successful, it has the potential to bring growth to the region and influence international development in this field – e.g. the political discussions about autonomous shipping taking place in the EU and the IMO. However, the questions remain – what are the right solutions? How can we ensure that autonomous shipping increases growth without jeopardizing safety? How can we support the maritime sector in the Baltic Sea Region so we remain among the best? And which actions should we prioritize in the near future? The seminar addresses these and other questions related to autonomous shipping.

The seminar will give an up-to-date overview of the field of autonomous shipping and the current activities in the Baltic Sea Region related to the field.

The panellists will outline the most important challenges in the field of autonomous shipping from different perspectives. The research perspective will briefly present an overview of the most up-to-date knowledge in the field. Representatives from companies conducting activities related to autonomous shipping will give an accord of their activities and the challenges which they face. The national authority perspective will inform about the regulatory and other framework conditions related to autonomous shipping and how the authorities are addressing challenges related to this.  

Furthermore, all panellists will suggest the most optimal routes to take in order to make the Baltic Sea Region a leading region in autonomous shipping.

An electronic survey system will ensure that questions/input from the audience are considered in the debate.