Toward a new maritime communication system in Detroit of Gibraltar where conventional and autonomous ships will co-exist

Abstract

In the next decades, hundreds of autonomous ships (AS) and Conventional ships (CS) will cross the Detroit of Gibraltar. For their autonomous operation, and remote control, these ships need to communicate with each other, with the vessel traffic system (VTS), with the port state control (PSC) and with the shore control centre (SCC). For a sustainable maritime industry, the biggest challenge will be the implementation of reliable and cost effective communication carrier to assure a continuous ships connectivity. Our contribution consists of quantifying and classifying the data to be transferred, the identification of ship mobility environment challenges, and the proposal of mobile WiMAX as a reliable, secure and cost effective maritime communication carrier. This communication carrier must be suitable for the dense maritime traffic, in the Detroit of Gibraltar, where conventional ships and autonomous ships will co-exist.