About this book:

This book provides a comprehensive, engineering-first guide to the design, integration, and deployment of unmanned and highly automated surface vessels. As the maritime industry undergoes a digital transformation, this text serves as a definitive technical resource, covering the entire "system of systems" that constitutes an autonomous ship. From naval architecture foundations and alternative propulsion systems to the complexities of sensor fusion, computer vision, and COLREGs-compliant path planning, the book offers rigorous treatments of the technologies required to navigate complex maritime environments without a traditional onboard crew.

Beyond the hardware and software, the book places a heavy emphasis on the operational and regulatory frameworks essential for commercial viability. It explores the "human-in-the-loop" dynamics of shore control centers, robust cybersecurity architectures, and the development of safety cases. Detailed chapters on IMO regulatory pathways, certification testing, and the economics of autonomous fleets provide practitioners with a toolkit to move from prototype to fleet orchestration. Featuring real-world case studies like the *Yara Birkeland* and military USV trials, this is an essential manual for naval architects, software engineers, and maritime policy makers shaping the future of global trade.

What You'll Find Inside:

• A comprehensive 'system of systems' engineering approach covering hull design, power management, and advanced control architectures.
• Detailed analysis of the maritime sensor stack, including radar, lidar, EO/IR, and AIS, combined with multi-modal sensor fusion techniques.
• Practical guidance on achieving COLREGs compliance, path planning, and collision avoidance through algorithmic decision-making.
• Strategies for operational resilience, focusing on redundancy, fault tolerance, cybersecurity, and graceful degradation in degraded modes.
• A roadmap for commercial deployment, spanning shore control center (SCC) design, regulatory pathways (IMO MASS Code), and new maritime business models.

Who's It For:

This book is primarily intended for naval architects, control and software engineers, and maritime safety leads involved in the technical development of unmanned surface vessels. It is also an essential resource for stakeholders at classification societies, flag state regulators, and port logistics professionals who must evaluate the safety, certification, and integration of autonomous ships into global trade. Additionally, maritime entrepreneurs and insurers will benefit from the chapters on economic viability and risk management.