As crews grow old, Japanese shipping firms try to do without them
But robots have a lot to learn about the ways of the sea
CAPTAIN KUWAHARA SATORU’S tanker is manoeuvring through Yokohama harbour. Dolphins leap in the distance; a cruise ship slides under a glittering bridge. He issues an instruction via the radio, and suddenly the ship is navigating congested waters off Singapore. Offered a turn at the helm, your correspondent accidentally sets the tanker on a collision course. Mr Kuwahara quickly steers away from danger. Then he flips a switch and all the windows go dark. He walks out of the simulator into the 24th-floor offices of Japan Marine Science (JMS), a shipping consultancy.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Sailing without sailors”
Asia July 25th 2020
- Even as India urbanises, caste discrimination remains rife
- The Philippine peso is the champion of emerging-market currencies
- Central Asian governments admit they have a problem with covid-19
- As crews grow old, Japanese shipping firms try to do without them
- In the South China Sea, America is churning waters claimed by China
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