The Place of ROVs in Marine Technology Education & Careers : THE MATE PROGRAM

We subscribe to a spectrum of periodicals with subject matter that focuses on the maritime world. One of them, "Underwater", is published by the Association of Diving Contractors (International) ; these are the professionals who risk their lives by performing such dangerous tasks as mixed gas diving to great depths; underwater search and rescue; in-person inspection, maintenance, and repair of complex technological assemblies like hydroelectric plants; law enforcement search-and-rescue; lucrative but dangerous mineral exploration at astonishing depths; and so on.

As we are Certified Open-Water recreational divers ourselves, we can appreciate the work they do and the much greater risks they take daily in their chosen profession.

Therefore we were very pleased when we saw in the latest issue of Underwater magazine a full-color, two-page article on the Federally-supported MATE program. MATE --Marine Advanced Technology Education -- exposes teenagers to career opportunities requiring marine science technology and skills by means of this Remotely-Operated Vehicle (ROV) competition for students, that has been funded as a National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Center of Excellence for the past 15 years. It is headquartered at a small college in Monterey, California, and financial and curricular support comes from the National Science Foundation and a variety of organizations that operate in deep-water environments.

This year's international field of 21 teams of student competitors comes from as far afield as a broad sample of U.S. states PLUS places as far afield as Egypt; Hong Kong; Japan; Scotland; Nova Scotia; and Newfoundland & Labrador .

The general nature of the competition is simple : students from as wide a range of educational backgrounds as the upper grades of elementary school, secondary school, home school, and college learn how to design, build, and operate Remotely Operated Vehicles that perform a variety of challenging tasks, with the ultimate goal of exposing them to the possibilities of careers in the deep-sea environment.

It encourages participants to focus their academic interests on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and therefore creates a flexible approach to education that supports and encourages those often-neglected fields.

The program eventually leads to an ultimate international (one might say "Olympic-style") competition in Orlando, Florida, this June, 2012.

We wish a powerful and exciting experience to all the participants in this event, and hope that the challenging studies that they undertake lead to fulfilling careers in the many-faceted marine and maritime worlds.

DO WE REALLY NEED A CAPTAIN AND CREW ON BOARD?

RADICAL IDEA--- a solution that gets to the ROOT of the problem (from radix, LATIN FOR "ROOT") --- REMOTELY-OPERATED CARGO SHIPS

Problems and Issues :

1. A shortage of trained, experienced, qualified, reliable shipboard crew
2. Modern pirates who board a ship at sea, seize control, and steal the cargo or hold the crew for ransom.
3. Wages are so high that --- even when a captain and crew can be found --- the
costs eat heavily into profits.
4. Containers have to be stacked so high that they become a hazard to the ship's Center of Gravity and the crew's line of sight.
5. No one thinks that anything is exceptional about sending drones (remotely-operated vehicles) into warfare, these days, containing huge, mankillng cargoes of explosives, in the air under the control of remotely situated operators (do they even call them "pilots" anymore, these days ?).
6. Naval architects have to build in large and expensive crew space, together with machinery to maintain comfortable interior conditions for them; food storage and preparation (galleys and dining rooms); and waste disposal .
7. ... and plan voyages to take crew requirements into account.
8.  and much more that we leave to your imagination, WHEN

If maritime ships were designed from initial concept to launching as

A. remotely controlled cargo carriers,

B. equipped with as many optical devices as necessary to maintain a safe watch

C. with complete remote sensing, recording, and control devices, and the necessary communications capability

D. with an Operator comfortably seated hundreds or thousands of miles away
     who will return to his or her comfortable suburban home at 5:00 p.m.

E. and be relieved by a second shift operator who will be fresh and alert, with no fatigue problems

F. with no danger of loss of life in the event of collision, alision, fire, or pirates

G. with resulting significantly reduced insurance premiums

and a host of other advantages.

Our guess is that pilots would still have to board and control the ship for difficult harbor and docking maneuvers, and other minor adjustments would have to be made. All in all, these are issues that can be handled and solved.

If we can entrust expensive, even irreplaceable, space vehicles to remote operation and control, why can't we consider the possibility for merchant vessels ? Is anyone currently working on this ?

SUBJECT TO RECEIPT OF INPUT, CONSIDERATION, AND ADJUSTMENT OF CONCEPT ; PLEASE THINK ABOUT IT .  We would entertain comments, thoughts, and even well-thought-out challenges to the idea. Of course, we would also be happy to receive comments supporting the notion.