来源：《自然》
原文刊登日期：2023年2月27日
In January last year, a Japanese car ferry, the Soleil, became the first large vessel to navigate without human intervention. The 220-metre-long ship automatically berthed and unberthed, turned, reversed and steered itself for 240 kilometres — manoeuvres that even skilled human operators find challenging.
去年1月，日本汽车渡轮“太阳号”成为第一艘无人驾驶的大型船只。这艘220米长的船自动靠泊、起锚、转弯、倒退并自动航行240公里，即使是熟练的人类操作员也觉得这是一项挑战。
It is early days, but ships are increasingly deploying sensors and artificial-intelligence (AI) systems to navigate, steer and avoid collisions. As with cars, such advances should improve safety, increase efficiency and — along with cleaner fuels and engines — reduce environmental impacts.
现在还处于早期阶段，但船舶正在越来越多地部署传感器和人工智能(AI)系统来导航、驾驶和避免碰撞。与汽车一样，这种进步应该能提高安全性，提高能效，并与更清洁的燃料和发动机一起减少对环境的影响。
This is crucial: 80% of global trade (around 11 billion tonnes) is transported by sea each year. In 2018, shipping generated around 3% (about 1,000 million tonnes) of global carbon dioxide emissions. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has committed to halving the industry’s greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.
这一点至关重要：每年全球贸易的80%（约110亿吨）通过海运运输。2018年，航运产生了全球约3%（约10亿吨）的二氧化碳排放量。国际海事组织（IMO）承诺到2050年将该行业的温室气体排放量减半。
Seafaring is risky and workers are in short supply. Inefficiencies and congestion at ports add delays and costs, as do accidents, such as the grounding of the container ship Ever Given in the Suez canal for six days in March 2021. Streamlining passage through locks, reducing energy consumption and negotiating manoeuvres to avoid collisions would enable safer and more optimal use of waterways.
海运风险很大，而且工人短缺。港口的低效率和拥堵增加了延误和成本，事故也是如此，例如2021年3月，集装箱船长赐号在苏伊士运河搁浅了6天。简化船闸通道、减少能源消耗和商定避免碰撞的操作，将使航道的使用更加安全和优化。
Some small, fully autonomous boats, typically less than 10 metres long, are already in operation for specialist tasks such as monitoring water quality and infrastructure in the open sea, or as test beds for the technology. But the next couple of years will see a sea change, with the first larger ‘maritime autonomous surface ships’ planned to start commercial operation.
一些通常不到10米长的完全自动驾驶的小型船只已经投入使用，执行专业任务，如监测公海的水质和基础设施，或作为船舶自动驾驶技术的试验台。但未来几年将发生翻天覆地的变化，首批大型“海运自动驾驶水面船舶”计划开始商业运营。
Pilot projects include the Norwegian container ship Yara Birkeland, an 80-metre-long vessel that, by 2024, is expected to convey fertilizer autonomously and with zero emissions from a manufacturing plant to an export port.
试点项目包括挪威集装箱船雅苒伯克兰，这是一艘80米长的船，预计到2024年，该船将以零排放的方式将化肥从制造厂自动输送到出口港。
In a decade, automated vessels might interact with one another. For instance, the Vessel Train, a pilot project funded by the European Union and coordinated by the Netherlands Maritime Technology Foundation, uses a crewed lead vessel to head a convoy of smaller, automated ones that can access small waterways around ports efficiently. Ultimately, fleets of self-steering ships or boats might be managed from maritime traffic-control centres located on shore.
十年后，自动化船只可能会相互交流。例如，由欧盟资助、荷兰海事技术基金会协调的试点项目“船舶列车”使用一艘有船员的领航船，带领一支由更小的自动化船只组成的船队，这些船只可以高效地进入港口周围的小水道。最终，自动驾驶的船队可能由位于岸上的海上交通控制中心管理。
But if autonomous vessels are to fulfil their promise, much remains to be done — and soon. More than 50,000 merchant ships trade internationally, under the flags of some 150 nations. A large, high-tech vessel can cost US$200 million to build, and can operate for decades. Ships are complex technically. They need to work in busy shipping lanes, ports and rough open seas.
但是，如果自动驾驶船舶要真正成功，还有很多工作要做——而且要很快做。有5万多艘商船在大约150个国家的旗帜下进行国际贸易。一艘大型高科技船只的建造成本可能高达2亿美元，并且可以运行数十年。这样的船在技术上是复杂的。它们需要在繁忙的航道、港口和波涛汹涌的公海上工作。