BHP considers using autonomous vessels to carry iron ore, coal
Melbourne
BHP Billiton Ltd, the world's biggest mining company, is studying the introduction of giant, automated cargo ships to carry everything from iron ore to coal as part of a strategic shift that may disrupt the US$334 billion global shipping industry.
"Safe and efficient autonomous vessels carrying BHP cargo, powered by BHP gas, is our vision for the future of dry bulk shipping," Rashpal Bhatti, vice-president, freight, wrote in a posting on its website. The company, also one of the world's largest dry bulk charterers, is seeking partners to work on technological changes in the sector, he said.
BHP, which charters about 1,500 voyages a year for around a quarter of a billion tonnes of iron ore, copper and coal, wants to deploy the technology within a decade, according to Mr Bhatti. For the biggest miners, a move to crewless ships could deliver new savings in the US$86 billion a year seaborne iron ore market, mirroring the shift to autonomous trucks to trains that allow fewer staff to remotely operate or monitor multiple vehicles.
Deploying unmanned ships on the 10-day sea journey from Australia's northern coast to China would be a logical extension of technology that currently runs from mines to ports and allows producers to respond quickly to specific customer demands, said Emilie Ditton, Sydney-based research director at IDC Energy Insights.
"There has been in the last six months a really big change in the desire of mining companies to seek out opportunities for innovation," Ms Ditton said. "There's a much bigger recognition that there are opportunities to innovate across the board."
Work is underway at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations agency in London that oversees global shipping, to consider regulation of autonomous surface ships, said James Fanshawe, a former senior Royal Navy officer and chairman of the UK's Maritime Autonomous Systems Regulatory Working Group.
A meeting beginning on Wednesday of IMO's maritime safety committee will consider proposals for a regulatory study on the "safe, secure and environmentally sound operation" of autonomous vessels, according to the organisation's website.
BHP takes the view that the dry bulk freight market is on the verge of pricing and liquidity reforms similar to those seen in bulk commodities markets over the last decade, Mr Bhatti said in the May 30 posting. The company cut freight and transportation costs by 16 per cent to US$2.3 billion in fiscal 2016, according to filings.
The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of commodity shipping costs, fell 0.4 per cent on Tuesday to 818 points, according to the Baltic Exchange in London.
A three-year, 3.8 million euro (S$5.91 million) project backed by the European Union developed a proposal for an intercontinental bulk carrier and concluded in 2015 that autonomous technology is both feasible and likely to be adopted. China's Maritime Safety Administration is also working on development of uncrewed ships, according to its website. BLOOMBERG
