IEEE Electrification Magazine - December 2019 - 31

need to be adjusted. Alternatively, an additional ferry
could be added.

compared. Moreover, by employing AI techniques, route
optimization can be carried out for a given timetable
while minimizing energy consumption.

Current Standards and Regulations
Legislation requires a thorough analysis. Safety of Life at
Sea, the international regulation recommendation for
ships, is locally implemented through law enactment.
From the perspective of electrification, legislation is not
clear. For instance, fires in Li batteries are common and
will burn without oxygen. There is also a lack of regulatory
support from the classification societies and the Swedish
maritime authorities. There are some standards that help,
e.g., the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
60092 series for ships as well as IEC component standards
for switchgears, motors, semiconductors, batteries, and the
IEC 62619 standard Secondary Cells and Batteries Containing
Alkaline or Other Nonacid Electrolytes and Safety Requirements
for Secondary Li Cells and Batteries, for Use in Industrial Applications. Current legislation, however, cannot be considered
satisfactory. And, as we move further toward automation,
the legislation becomes even more vague, as many issues
related to the assigning of responsibility in cases of accidents, and data protection during remote communication
and visual camera recording, remain unsolved.

Final Remarks
Worldwide public transport is likely to substantially
increase in volume in the coming years. The region of Västra Götaland estimates that the number of public transports will double to roughly 400 million annually by 2025.
Today, the transriver traffic in Gothenburg is operated by
local companies with clear environmental policies that
actively work toward achieving energy optimization aboard
their ferries. Two of the ferries are also prepared for battery
operation but have not yet been converted due to technical
challenges (mainly because of difficulties in solving how
the batteries can be charged during operation of the ferry)
as well as logistical, operational, and business challenges.
The literature review in this article reveals great potential
in developing solutions for the electrification problem
using automation and AI in maritime applications. The initial evaluation reveals that, in some situations, it might be
technically possible to recharge batteries in ferries at each
journey by using induction coupling between ferries and
quays. However, the technical solution for a fast connector
still requires further investigation. Our research has provided input to the regulatory development process to help
close the current gap in regulations.
Future research should focus on developing simulations where the different technological solutions used to
overcome existing challenges can be evaluated and optimized for operational demands (e.g., timetables), with the
aim of identifying optimal options for electrified or automated operation of transriver traffic. By utilizing a simulator, different technical solutions (e.g., how to charge
batteries in the most efficient way) can be evaluated and

Acknowledgments
The financial support from the Chalmers Area of Advance
is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank Styrsöbolaget
for sharing data from its transportation system as well as
Bengt-Erik Mellander and Maurizio Furlani for sharing
their knowledge of the energy storage field.

For Further Reading
European Commission, EU Transport in Figures. Brussels, Belgium: Publications Office of the European Union, 2014.
G. Meyer, R. Bucknall, and D. Breuil, Electrification of the
Transport System: Studies and Reports. Brussels, Belgium: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, 2017.
O. Alnes, S. Eriksen, and B. J. Vartdal, "Battery-powered
ships: A class society perspective," IEEE Electrific. Mag., vol. 5,
no. 3, pp. 10-21, Sept. 2017.
S. Campbell, W. Naeem, and G. Irwin, "A review on
improving the autonomy of unmanned surface vehicles
through intelligent collision avoidance manoeuvres," Annu.
Rev. Control, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 267-283, Dec. 2012.
M. Christiansen, K. Fagerholt, B. Nygreen, and D. Ronen,
"Ship routing and scheduling in the new millennium," Eur.
J. Oper. Res., vol. 228, no. 3, pp. 467-483, Aug. 2013.
G. Guidi, J. A. Suul, F. Jenset, and I. Sorfonn, "Wireless
charging for ships: High-power inductive charging for battery
electric and plug-in hybrid vessels," IEEE Electrific. Mag., vol. 5,
no. 3, pp. 22-32, Sept. 2017.
M. Jakob, O. Vaneˇk, and M. Peˇchoucˇek, "Using agents to
improve international maritime transport security," IEEE Intell.
Syst., vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 90-96, Jan.-Feb. 2011.
N. Nitta, F. Wu, J. T. Lee, and G. Yushin, "Li-ion battery
materials: Present and future," Materials Today, vol. 18, no. 5,
pp. 252-264, June 2015.
B. Özbas, I. Or, and T. Altiok, "Comprehensive scenario
analysis for mitigation of risks of the maritime traffic in the
strait of Istanbul," J. Risk Res., vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 541-561, May
2012.
B. Sanden and P. Wallgren, Eds., Systems Perspectives on
Electromobility. Gothenburg, Sweden: Chalmers Univ. of Technology, 2014, pp. 33-44.
L. Walther, A. Rizvanolli, M. Wendebourg, and C. Jahn,
"Modeling and optimization algorithms in ship weather routing," Int. J. e-Navigation Maritime Econ., vol. 4, pp. 31-45, June
2016.
F. Zhang, G. Marani, R. N. Smith, and H. T. Choi, "Future
trends in marine robotics," IEEE Robot. Autom. Mag., vol. 22,
no. 1, pp. 14-122, Mar. 2015.

Biographies
Mauro Bellone (mauro.bellone@chalmers.se) is with
Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Monica Lundh (monica.lundh@chalmers.se) is with
Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Mattias Wahde (mattias.wahde@chalmers.se) is with
Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Scott MacKinnon (scottm@chalmers.se) is with Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.

IEEE Elec trific ation Magazine / D EC EM BE R 2 0 1 9

IEEE Electrification Magazine - December 2019

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