SPEAKER INTERVIEW: Ilia Maslov, technical advisor at Bureau Veritas Marine and Offshore

Ahead of his presentation at Autonomous Ship Expo in Amsterdam, Ilia Maslov, technical advisor for digital and smart ships at Bureau Veritas Marine and Offshore, sits down with Electric & Hybrid Marine Technology International to reveal more about his presentation, “Ship-shore connectivity and remote diagnostics: new BV rule notes”.

Ilia Maslov started his career as a mariner in the energy sector, moved to shore as a fleet dynamic positioning expert and superintendent for an offshore shipowner in France, and presently works for Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore developing certification and classification products for novel technology. He has managed R&D projects for marine remote monitoring and diagnostics, functional safety, decision support and connectivity for autonomous shipping. Throughout his career, he has participated in the IMCA, ISO and IHO work groups.

His presentation will look into connectivity systems on board and remote diagnostics from shore, and their role as enablers of autonomous and remotely operated shipping. He will share updates about the new rule notes and corresponding notations Sync-Com and Data-Centric published in 2024. Alongside this, challenges and regulatory solutions will also be presented, including results from the S-123 development project with the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and from the Data-Centric evaluation project.

How do you think progress toward MASS has been proceeding?

The industry is globally on a prudent track of experimentation to find the most profitable use cases and develop the sustainable regulatory framework to support the key enabling technology. The pace of progress is promising to meet the IMO target of adopting the mandatory MASS Code in the first half of 2026 and entry into force on January 1, 2028.

In your opinion, what are the top trends this sector right now?

The trend of using non-marinized components in autonomy solutions is an opportunity to accelerate the search for the most cost-effective hardware and software. In the meantime, it becomes difficult to predict its robust performance in the marine environment without relevant testing, e.g. as per IACS UR E10.

Another trend is the progress toward the carriage of passengers and dangerous goods. The redundant designs become indispensable, and it could be a good opportunity for the autonomous community to tap into the practical experience of the marine offshore domain in the fields of failure effect analysis and sea trials.

What will attendees learn from your presentation?

The ship-shore synchronous communication is an enabler for autonomy because it is a prerequisite of a control transfer to the ROC in case of emergency. While the overall autonomous ship system design may vary, obtaining a class notation for this key building block will reassure the stakeholders. Notation Sync-Com-R can be the first step in gradually certifying the overall autonomy solution.

Regular diagnostics and efficient defect reporting is another important step in gaining the trust of the stakeholders. Notation ‘Data-Centric’ is a way to prioritize the industrial data flows, set up notifications to the interested parties and interpret the outcome of the diagnostics with respect to the rules of the classification society.

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