The invisible network that keeps the world running

The invisible network that keeps the world running(bbc.com)

90 points by mowgles 11 years ago | 12 comments

flashman 11 years ago |

Here's a premise for you: autonomous cargo ships, incorporated as their own entities, bidding on freight contracts and offering transport through a system not unlike an AdWords bidding auction. They circle the world constantly, offloading and picking up cargo from sail-through offshore platforms, stopping only for maintenance, and occasionally doing really strange things for reasons only their algorithms can explain.

swatow 11 years ago | |

When things move so slowly, there is no advantage to being autonomous. And it makes little difference economically who the owners are. Right now, ships will change their speeds based on changes in interest rates, since it is more fuel efficient to move slowly, but when interest rates go up, it is worthwhile to get the cargo to its destination quicker.

mafribe 11 years ago | | |

That's really interesting. I know little / nothing about the economics of large scale maritime transport. Could you point me towards some reading material on this subject?

runeks 11 years ago | | |

> Right now, ships will change their speeds based on changes in interest rates, since it is more fuel efficient to move slowly, but when interest rates go up, it is worthwhile to get the cargo to its destination quicker.

Perhaps this is the reason the Baltic Dry Index ("an assessment of the price of moving the major raw materials by sea" [1]) is at an all-time low?

http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/BALDRY/tab/2

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Dry_Index

thret 11 years ago | |

This idea sounds very similar to the one of driverless cars owning themselves: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30998361

runeks 11 years ago | | |

I really don't understand how a car can own itself. Surely, whoever purchased/produced the car is its owner.

wyager 11 years ago | |

Throw in the ability to do complex live learning/optimization and you have a recipe for some really interesting behavior.

205guy 11 years ago |

For those who want a peek into the maritime industries (shipping, offshore extraction, navies, tourism, etc) and their concerns (commodity prices, shipwrecks, arctic warming, big engine tech): gcaptain.com

reitanqild 11 years ago | |

Thanks! I didn't know and I've been working in the industry for many moons already.

My go-to site for offshore is the local http://www.offshore.no/international/

Anyone else has good resources?

joosters 11 years ago |

A book suggestion for anyone who would like to read more: "Ninety percent of everything"

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ninety-Percent-Everything-Shipping-I...

hga 11 years ago | |

And a book thoroughly covering this from the beginning, which also provides a physical world example of successful but painful standards creation: The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger http://www.amazon.com/Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller-Economy...

Animats 11 years ago |

Wait until he visits Rotterdam. It's all robot cranes and robot vehicles.