Japan plans to launch a fleet of 250 self-driving cargo ships by 2025

Self-navigating cargo ships could soon be a reality, thanks to plans from a number of Japanese shipping firms.

The schemes, which is expected to cost tens of billions of yen (hundreds of million dollars or pounds), would result in a fleet of 250 high tech vessels.

The smart ships would utilise artificial intelligence to navigate the seas, plotting the safest, shortest and cheapest routes, and could be in service by 2025.

Shipping firms Mitsui OSK Lines and Nippon Yusen are reported to be involved in the scheme, and will share expertise and the costs of getting the project off the ground.

The system would include elements of the Internet of Things, which allows devices to connect to the internet to gather data.

This would allow AI software to analyse weather forecasts and other information to adjust the ship's heading.

It would also be able to monitor maintenance, predicting malfunctions and other issues before they happen.

And by implementing fully autonomous shipping in the future this could halve the roughly 2,000 maritime accidents per year, according to reports in Nikkei Asian Review.

Participating shipbuilders, including Japan Marine United, will include the self-navigating system in new ship models.

The plans are part of a drive in Japan to reclaim a bigger share of the cargo shipping industry.

It is hoped that by taking the lead in automation technology, the country's share of the market will grow ten per cent from its current 20 per cent.

This is not the first time that the possibility of autonomous shipping has been explored.

In June last year, Rolls Royce revealed planed for fleets of 'drone ships' to ferry carry around the world, all controlled from a central 'holodeck'.

The firm believes an entirely unmanned ship could take to the seas by 2020.

Cameras would beam 360-degree views from the drone ship back to operators based in a virtual bridge.

Rolls Royce is already testing a VR system in Norway for navigating the vessel remotely to steer them to their destinations.

The firm eventually hopes it would be able to remove all crew from the ship.

Speaking at the time, Rolls Royce's vice president of marine innovation Oskar Levander said: 'This is happening. It's not if, it's when.

'The technologies needed to make remote and autonomous ships a reality exist.

'We will see a remote controlled ship in commercial use by the end of the decade.'

As well as plans for smart shipping, various companies are also examining the possibilities for self- driving cargo trucks.

Waymo and Uber are just two of the firms currently testing out the technology.