How AI is helping reduce ferry emissions in Sweden

Every summer ferries transport passengers across the Swedish archipelago, a chain of some 30,000 islands located just off the coast of the country, and a new AI programme claims to be able to cut their emissions by 10-25%.

Due to the various conditions out to sea, fuel consumption use by ships can vary wildly, with some estimates hinting that around a 60% disparity can be seen for a single route, with the main determining factor being how the captain drives.

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To this end, Semcon and Cetasol have teamed up to develop a platform that uses AI to help ship captains map out routes and "streamline" travel, known as "iHelm".

Autonomous ships have seen developments in recent years, but many seem to focus on eliminating human intervention entirely. Cetasol's platform, in this respect, exists to make human-led travel more efficient.

In essence, the tech works by mapping out potential routes and helping captains make slight amendments to their travel in a bid to choose the "path of least resistance" - to update driving patterns in a bid to make the voyage more efficient.

“[iHelm] is a great example of how AI can make a difference in the transition to a more sustainable planet. The platform also offers the same potential for energy efficiency in future electric or even automated operations. I’m grateful that we at Semcon have contributed to the early stages of this project”, says Magnus Carlsson, Area Manager for Software & Emerging Tech at Semcon.

Since January 2020, the AI has been tested to streamline ferry traffic in the archipelago off the coast of Gothenburg, among others. Cetasol claims iHelm reduces emissions of vessels by an average of 17% by changing driving patterns, with further savings expected as the technology grows more refined. 

“The current platform processes large amounts of data from different sources, such as driving patterns from experienced captains, weather data, GPS positioning and ocean currents. Based on all this data it delivers ‘actionable insights’ that show the captain how to drive as energy-efficiently as possible”, says Ethan Faghani, CEO at Cetasol.

This could help provide short-term emissions reductions while the shipping sector itself seeks alternative technologies to provide larger-scale reductions.

In addition, the use of autonomous or self-driving technology in ships has a number of potential benefits. The main one is increased safety, while also providing the potential to reduce operational costs, and, by extension, increase profits.

The use of AI technology like iHelm cause also reduces costs by reducing fuel use and making trips faster and more efficient, meaning more runs can be done.

However, as the technology is still in its relative infancy, only time will tell whether it can reduce emissions by a significant amount.

Current Cetasol data suggests the technology could reduce emissions by as much as 25% - a quarter - which could provide significant short-term emissions reductions to the transport sector.

Read more: Autonomous AI-driven solar ship Mayflower crosses the Atlantic

The firm, a recent startup in Gothenburg, specialises in providing AI technology to the maritime sector.

Semcon, however, has a long history of providing machine learning for the transport sector, having been in operation for over 40 years and employing more than 2,000 people.

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