The Implication of Industry 5.0 to the Marine Environment: Protection Against Marine Pollution

Introduction

The seas, which have been one of the most important strategic assets of countries in terms of sociological, political, and economic aspects throughout history, also come to the fore as the natural resource that needs to be protected the most, due to the deprivations that occur if polluted. It is important to reveal the meaning and scope of the pollution of the marine environment, which is so important in social life, and to establish the legal, administrative and technical infrastructure of the measures to be taken.

Intervention activities to prevent loss of life and property as a result of accidents at sea and to reduce marine pollution should be carried out in coordination. Search and rescue and pollution prevention activities aimed at saving human life at sea require a comprehensive organization that includes legal and operational infrastructure, strong public administration, competent personnel, effective communication and reporting system due to the difficulty of the conditions and the excess of variables. The losses caused by the accidents at sea have prompted both the transportation and oil industry and the decision-making authorities to establish systems to prevent pollution and to increase the effectiveness of the response when it occurs (Aşan, 2022). While these systems provide support to the decision makers for the effective and rapid execution of the emergency response at sea, they use the dynamic data of meteorology (wind, air, and sea water temperature, etc.), oceanography (seawater density, surface current, wave condition, depth, etc.) and marine traffic with the data of pollutants and response equipment (viscosity, density, barrier height, oil scraper capacity, etc.). In these systems, in addition to pre-inserting static data into the system and keeping it up to date, real-time input of dynamic data is vital in accurately displaying the incident scene. Therefore, it is essential for the institutions/organizations that provide these data (meteorology department, oceanography/hydrography department, coast guard radars, maritime traffic services radars/AIS, police radars, satellite surveillance systems, etc.) to enter a real-time value into decision-making systems.

The digitalization provided by Industry 4.0 to the maritime industry has greatly increased cost efficiency, especially in port and terminal management and ship construction. In particular, the integration of information technology, which has the capacity to boost resource processes, and which can make decisions on its own, has the potential to lower the inaccuracy rate and make the process more efficient. The Industry 4.0 idea of smart production systems, which promotes production efficiency, may also be utilized for many reasons in the maritime sector, such as safety in the management of the marine environment (Olsen & Tomlin, 2020). It is vital to monitor the maritime environment as a priority and gather the required data to successfully manage the marine environment with the help of Industry 4.0 technology. Using sensors to collect data and specialized computers to analyze it, the data became more frequent and rapid. The evolution of technology not only made these monitoring and analyzing processes much simpler and more precise, but also rapid and real-time flow of this data into decision-making systems (Cardei & Wu, 2006).

As a consequence of accidents and pollution, the marine environment, which may be monitored in real-time through Industry 4.0-IoT, nevertheless requires human-centric intervention. People are the ones who, from the beginning of the pollution, determine where, when, and how to intervene, as well as which instruments will be employed, and people are also the ones who use the intervention tools themselves. This challenge causes a loss of time, which appears as a negative aspect of sustainable marine environmental management since early action is of crucial significance in this context.