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The maritime industry worldwide faces a looming generation gap and seafarer shortage. Balancing a life at sea and family needs shoreside is a delicate act, one that Captain Bernhard has accomplished successfully with the support of his wife Franziska and daughter Charlotte.

happens, what are you going to do; just throw your arms up in the air and say ‘we’re lost?’ Personally, I want to get home.”

Of course the ultimate application of advanced technology bandied about in technical conferences is in regards to un- manned ships, with several ? eld tests underway and predic- tions that unmanned commercial vessel operations could start on certain point-to-point routes in as little as ? ve years. The notion of unmanned ships ? ts more broadly into the commod- itization of logistics operations globally, as land-based enti- ties test the prospects of delivery via drone, and engineers at

Google and Uber, among others, test the notion of driverless cars. When it comes to autonomy on the waterfront, Bern- hard is succinct: “I say go for it if you think you can prove it. But inevitably something will go wrong, and it’s going to be catastrophic. You’re always going to need some people on board. There might be a trend toward a homogenous ? eet and homogenous operations, but every captain and ship will con- tinue to have its own style.” 34-49 Q4 MP2016.indd 35 11/9/2016 12:18:59 PM