This week, the world's largest exercise for unmanned vehicles in the marine environment begins in waters off north-west Scotland, according to the United States Navy's Office of Naval Research.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has issued a request for proposals to the four pre-qualified port operators selected to compete for the concession to design, develop, finance, construct, operate and maintain a container terminal located near Corozal, in the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal.

While sensor-laden containers, smart ships and 3D printing have grabbed the headlines, the start-ups making the biggest inroads are those working on something more basic - streamlining the interaction between shippers, freight forwarders and those actually transporting the goods.

Recent events, such as the Hanjin collapse, have shone a spotlight on the deeply interconnected nature of today's container shipping networks and demonstrated how little visibility many shippers have into the whereabouts and status of their cargo as it moves through a complex web of service providers.

Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk plans to separate its businesses into transport and energy divisions in a bid to better tackle the problems facing its struggling businesses.

The Korea Offshore and Shipbuilding Association has released numbers confirming the expectations of many analysts: the number of actively operating shipyards around the world has fallen by more than 40 percent from what it was seven years ago.

Research in the design and development of fully autonomous and unmanned merchant vessels could reduce human error and provide financial savings through crew salaries and the omission of crew accommodation. However, these vessels, monitored from land, will require high-quality and reliable communication systems between the unmanned ship and shore. The communication systems are critical for safety and security and will come at a high cost.