Texas A&M University at Galveston is launching two new courses that incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous technologies into maritime business and research through an international partnership with Norwegian, South Korean, Indian, and Japanese universities.
The SEA-AI partnership is leading the creation of the two courses focused on AI in maritime training and autonomous shipping, which will incorporate “a variety of integrated technologies,” the university said in a Nov. 4 announcement.
“Essentially, we want to train AI in a simulation environment and buy the equipment so all students have to do is put on goggles and get immersed in a navigation environment,” said Jean-Paul Rodrigue, a professor in the Department of Maritime Business Administration. “One course will be about autonomous shipping, and making sure your autonomous ship can’t be hacked.”
The other course, focused on how to include AI in maritime business management, “involves all the ways in which these agents and machine learning algorithms can be applied to business analytics, which could be market data, demand and traffic forecasting,” Rodrigue said.
“Another aspect of it is how we can use AI to build more rigorous and informed teaching,” he added.
The university framed the cybersecurity component as foundational, citing ransomware as a prevalent maritime risk across navigation, communications, and engine and inventory management systems.
“The great majority of cybersecurity issues in the maritime industry are linked with what we call ransomware. Basically, a hacker saying, ‘I’m going to idle or beach this ship somewhere or put it in the path of a collision unless I get monetary compensation,’” Rodrigue said.
He added that attackers could ransom a ship based on cargo value or disrupt commercial activity as a form of warfare.
While AI rapidly develops, Rodrigue said that the SEA-AI project will continue to develop educational and training strategies until it starts accepting students. In 2026, he said that the program will have room for 24 students.
“Cybersecurity has become a part of the day-to-day lives of those who are working in a port terminal or a port authority, and AI has been evolving so rapidly that just two or three years ago, the discussion would have been radically different. Now, we’re talking about real effects that we need to prepare these students for,” Rodrigue said.
The university did not specify application dates or prerequisites in the press release.