Ghost Ships - What happens when ships become data?

Watching some mariners on youtube [1] and they take a pretty dim view on the idea of ghost ships, except in certain short haul scenarios. They cite that almost all of the maintenance takes place continuously while the ship is underway. While automation may reduce the bridge crew, until there are cheap robots that can perform all maintenance tasks - from overhauling engines, maintaining equipment, painting everything to protect from marine air, troubleshooting reefer units, to inspecting internal voids, not to mention routine tasks (docking, cargo operations), and emergency tasks (firefighting, damage control) - there&#x27;s always going to be a decent number on board.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;@JeffHK">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;@JeffHK</a>

<i>Elsewhere, “quants” with PhDs in astrophysics collate historical data with information about geography, weather, stock prices, and ship movements, searching for opportunities to place stock market bets on global trade.</i><p>I know that this is just an inevitable&#x2F;necessary part of a functioning market, but it somehow it also seems a little bit sad that this kind of human intellectual horsepower is spent on things like this. I could say the same thing about the smart people who spend their time doing things such as making social media more addictive.

flags of convenience routinely leave crew to fester offshore, and consider their welfare at best an inconvienience, not an obligation. They&#x27;ve left crew for years, not figuratively: literally years, on station, on minimal pay.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hellenicshippingnews.com&#x2F;crews-are-abandoned-on-ships-in-record-numbers-without-pay-food-or-a-way-home&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.hellenicshippingnews.com&#x2F;crews-are-abandoned-on-...</a><p>This is one reason maritime unions are so militant: they have to be, because the respect for rule of law is historically so scant in the shipping business.<p>&quot;coffin ships&quot; were a thing long before B. Traven wrote about it in 1926. The plimsoll line was invented because of the problems of lading and safety in the mid 19th century<p>When a ship exists for its insurance payout, then it&#x27;s truly become data.