On the way to autonomous navigation

The national aspects of readiness and the tasks of introducing autonomous (unmanned) navigation in the near future are considered. The purpose of the study - identification of economic benefits and risks, problem areas of implementation of autonomous navigation technologies. The economic benefit is based on a reduction in the costs of paying the crew of the ship, living on board it, reducing losses from accidents. If the question “what?” has already been answered - the installation of autonomous navigation systems is available for naval vessels today, then the question “why?” has not yet been resolved. If the main benefit is expected from a reduction in crew, then a noticeable reduction in crew is possible only for newly built and relatively modern vessels with an auto- mation level of at least AUT2, the share of which under the flag of the Russian Navy is about 15%. At the same time, the modernization of existing inland navigation vessels into autonomous vessels is now available for less than 2% of the river transport fleet (vessels with an automation level of A1), which suggests that autonomous inland water transport only has to be built. The risks also include the slow pace of construction of new ships, as well as retraining and further employment with a massive reduction in the crew of ships. Foreign and domestic experience of the initial stage of autonomous navigation implementation is considered.