Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SEDNA (Safe maritime operations under extreme conditions: the Arctic case)
Reporting period: 2018-12-01 to 2020-11-30
Increasing maritime traffic in the Artic has bought with it a greater risk of accident and loss of life due to the extremely harsh environment and the associated navigational challenges for a ship's crew.
SEDNAs overall objective was to develop an innovative and integrated risk-based approach to safe Arctic navigation, ship design and operation, that enables maritime interests to confidently embrace the Arctic’s significant and growing shipping opportunities This is important for society because it will increase confidence in the use of Arctic routes as both viable and safe economic alternatives to traditional passages.
More specifically SEDNA has created and demonstrated these improved safety outcomes by:
1. Designing a Safe Arctic Bridge, using augmented reality technology to provide improved situational awareness and decision making whilst enabling integration with new key information layers developed by the project.
2. Integrating dynamic meteorological and oceanographic data with real time ship and ice monitoring to provide reliable decision making for safe and efficient Arctic voyage optimisation.
3. Creating novel anti-icing engineering solutions, using nature inspired approaches, to prevent ice formation on vessels, reducing the risk of ice as a ship stability and working-environment hazard.
4. Developing a risk-based ship design framework to ensure that vessel design is connected to key hazards of ship operation in the Arctic. The holistic treatment of ship design, operating regime and environment will improve safety over the ship life cycle.
5. Publishing a CEN Workshop Agreement to systematically address safety during bunkering of methanol as a marine fuel along with safety zone guidance for three bunkering concepts: Truck to Ship, Shore to Ship and Ship to Ship.
SEDNAs overall objective was to develop an innovative and integrated risk-based approach to safe Arctic navigation, ship design and operation, that enables maritime interests to confidently embrace the Arctic’s significant and growing shipping opportunities This is important for society because it will increase confidence in the use of Arctic routes as both viable and safe economic alternatives to traditional passages.
More specifically SEDNA has created and demonstrated these improved safety outcomes by:
1. Designing a Safe Arctic Bridge, using augmented reality technology to provide improved situational awareness and decision making whilst enabling integration with new key information layers developed by the project.
2. Integrating dynamic meteorological and oceanographic data with real time ship and ice monitoring to provide reliable decision making for safe and efficient Arctic voyage optimisation.
3. Creating novel anti-icing engineering solutions, using nature inspired approaches, to prevent ice formation on vessels, reducing the risk of ice as a ship stability and working-environment hazard.
4. Developing a risk-based ship design framework to ensure that vessel design is connected to key hazards of ship operation in the Arctic. The holistic treatment of ship design, operating regime and environment will improve safety over the ship life cycle.
5. Publishing a CEN Workshop Agreement to systematically address safety during bunkering of methanol as a marine fuel along with safety zone guidance for three bunkering concepts: Truck to Ship, Shore to Ship and Ship to Ship.
All objectives were progressed in P2 and the core technology pipeline was integrated. This consists of weather and sea-ice data provided by MET that is processed and distributed by UoS. This is then used by CHALMERS and GreenSteam to support voyage planning and optimisation. These components were largely designed in P1 and then instantiated, evaluated and demonstrated in P2.
The focus in P2 was to develop these software tools to support the requirements coming from three scenarios identified by the project. These were two accident scenarios and one operational scenario. These were fully modelled by AHO and evaluated as the Safe Arctic Bridge by AHO and CHALMERS. The simulations were used to identify problem areas and to gather data about the simulations and responses to them from end users. AHO and ULSTEIN also demonstrated a real time connection between AR applications running on a Hololens headset and an offshore vessel running monitoring systems developed by ULSTEIN.
A CEN workshop agreement (CWA) on the bunkering of methanol was conceived, negotiated and published by CEN in P2. This involved agreement between a large set of EU stakeholders involved in methanol production, distribution and usage in various maritime sectors. The CWA is a first step towards standardisation in this area. An associated report on the use of low flash-point fuels was generated by NMCI with major input from the classification society LR.
A new risk-based design (RBD) framework to ensure that vessel design is connected to the hazards of ship operation in the Arctic was completed in P2 by AALTO. A key component was to assess ice-loading on a hull in new ways and to probabilistically assess the chance of vessels being stuck in ice. The new framework was used by AALTO to a new vessel design with AKER and showed that significant cost savings in materials used could be achieved without compromising safety. AKER also built new ship models to validate the voyage planning tool built by CHALMERS.
UCL developed new types of anti-icing technology of three types; biomimetic coatings, passive de-icing and anti-icing coatings; and low-power passive or active electrothermal coatings. New solutions were evaluated in simulated field trials in the AALTO ice-tank leading to a novel testing protocol for anti-icing components that could serve as a basis for future regulations.
Work progressed satisfactorily on all work packages throughout the project duration although the effect of COVID-19 necessitated a project extension due to the disruption caused to some dissemination, evaluation and demonstration activities.
The strongest exploitation channels are the commercial use of the voyage/route optimiser developed by GreenSteam; the wide industry engagement with the Safe Arctic Bridge prototypes and design standards developed by AHO, LR; the input into maritime regulations from the methanol bunkering agreement (STENA, BMT, LR, NMCI), risk-based design (AALTO, AKER) and anti-icing workstreams (UCL); the improved sea ice forecasting products (MET); and the vessel monitoring and data-sharing infrastructure built by ULSTEIN. Contacts with the various stakeholders occurred throughout P2, especially via our external advisors; the new industry network established around the CEN CWA on methanol; and via exposure at various conferences. SEDNAs Safe Artic Bridge concept will be presented to IMO sub-committee on Human Element, Training and certification of Watchkeepers on Feb 18th 2021.
The focus in P2 was to develop these software tools to support the requirements coming from three scenarios identified by the project. These were two accident scenarios and one operational scenario. These were fully modelled by AHO and evaluated as the Safe Arctic Bridge by AHO and CHALMERS. The simulations were used to identify problem areas and to gather data about the simulations and responses to them from end users. AHO and ULSTEIN also demonstrated a real time connection between AR applications running on a Hololens headset and an offshore vessel running monitoring systems developed by ULSTEIN.
A CEN workshop agreement (CWA) on the bunkering of methanol was conceived, negotiated and published by CEN in P2. This involved agreement between a large set of EU stakeholders involved in methanol production, distribution and usage in various maritime sectors. The CWA is a first step towards standardisation in this area. An associated report on the use of low flash-point fuels was generated by NMCI with major input from the classification society LR.
A new risk-based design (RBD) framework to ensure that vessel design is connected to the hazards of ship operation in the Arctic was completed in P2 by AALTO. A key component was to assess ice-loading on a hull in new ways and to probabilistically assess the chance of vessels being stuck in ice. The new framework was used by AALTO to a new vessel design with AKER and showed that significant cost savings in materials used could be achieved without compromising safety. AKER also built new ship models to validate the voyage planning tool built by CHALMERS.
UCL developed new types of anti-icing technology of three types; biomimetic coatings, passive de-icing and anti-icing coatings; and low-power passive or active electrothermal coatings. New solutions were evaluated in simulated field trials in the AALTO ice-tank leading to a novel testing protocol for anti-icing components that could serve as a basis for future regulations.
Work progressed satisfactorily on all work packages throughout the project duration although the effect of COVID-19 necessitated a project extension due to the disruption caused to some dissemination, evaluation and demonstration activities.
The strongest exploitation channels are the commercial use of the voyage/route optimiser developed by GreenSteam; the wide industry engagement with the Safe Arctic Bridge prototypes and design standards developed by AHO, LR; the input into maritime regulations from the methanol bunkering agreement (STENA, BMT, LR, NMCI), risk-based design (AALTO, AKER) and anti-icing workstreams (UCL); the improved sea ice forecasting products (MET); and the vessel monitoring and data-sharing infrastructure built by ULSTEIN. Contacts with the various stakeholders occurred throughout P2, especially via our external advisors; the new industry network established around the CEN CWA on methanol; and via exposure at various conferences. SEDNAs Safe Artic Bridge concept will be presented to IMO sub-committee on Human Element, Training and certification of Watchkeepers on Feb 18th 2021.
Several aspects of SEDNA are beyond state-of-the-art because they are being used in the Arctic context for the first time. These include; the approach of risk-based design of Arctic vessels; using augmented visualisations on an Arctic bridge to help a navigator who will have an even greater cognitive load than normal; voyage planning tools customised for the Arctic; the sensorization of vessels and the dynamic use of the data collected from them to inform navigation; and completely new anti-icing solutions.
The main socio-economic impact demonstrated by SEDNA is that significant savings can be made in both fuel and transport time by using Arctic compared to traditional routes. This is despite the presence of sea ice at certain times and locations.
SEDNAs work on improving Arctic weather forecasting will have wide impact due to its development and promotion by the MET office in the UK. MET is the top-rated operational forecaster in the world for the accuracy of its data.
The SEDNA Safe Arctic Bridge concept has attracted the attention of Microsoft and has led to a further post-SEDNA collaboration with them. Bridge concepts arising from SEDNA have also been promulgated through the large OpenBridge network of equipment manufacturers and researchers. These ideas are also being presented to the International Maritime Organisation in 2021 by SEDNA consortium members including the leading classification society Lloyds Register..
The projects work on clean fuels will have most impact due to the CEN workshop agreement we wrote and negotiated, with a network of European stakeholders, on the topic of the bunkering of methanol. This is the basis for future regulatory work in this area.
SEDNA is timely given the increased prominence of the climate change debate and our response to the changing environment. We have shown that Arctic commerce can be progressed both safely and cleanly and that one positive outcome from the new availability of commercial transits of the Arctic is that cargo in the future will be able to be moved more speedily and at lower cost to where it is needed without increasing the global environmental burden.
The main socio-economic impact demonstrated by SEDNA is that significant savings can be made in both fuel and transport time by using Arctic compared to traditional routes. This is despite the presence of sea ice at certain times and locations.
SEDNAs work on improving Arctic weather forecasting will have wide impact due to its development and promotion by the MET office in the UK. MET is the top-rated operational forecaster in the world for the accuracy of its data.
The SEDNA Safe Arctic Bridge concept has attracted the attention of Microsoft and has led to a further post-SEDNA collaboration with them. Bridge concepts arising from SEDNA have also been promulgated through the large OpenBridge network of equipment manufacturers and researchers. These ideas are also being presented to the International Maritime Organisation in 2021 by SEDNA consortium members including the leading classification society Lloyds Register..
The projects work on clean fuels will have most impact due to the CEN workshop agreement we wrote and negotiated, with a network of European stakeholders, on the topic of the bunkering of methanol. This is the basis for future regulatory work in this area.
SEDNA is timely given the increased prominence of the climate change debate and our response to the changing environment. We have shown that Arctic commerce can be progressed both safely and cleanly and that one positive outcome from the new availability of commercial transits of the Arctic is that cargo in the future will be able to be moved more speedily and at lower cost to where it is needed without increasing the global environmental burden.