Ship Intelligent Navigation: Perception, Decision-making, and Control

Special Issue on
Ship Intelligent Navigation: Perception, Decision-making, and Control

Journal: Journal of Advances in Engineering and Technology

Type: Special Issue

Submission Deadline: April 30, 2026

Estimated Publication: June 2026

Peer Review Period: Initial decision within 3–4 weeks after submission

Scope and Focus

Currently, the development of new technologies such as information technology, large-scale models, and artificial intelligence provides the core driving force for the transformation and upgrading of the intelligent shipping and other water transportation industries. As an emerging business form, intelligent shipping is reshaping the global shipping landscape at an unprecedented pace, continuously leading new technologies like intelligent ships and intelligent navigation to new heights. Against this backdrop, intelligent navigation of ships has become a key development direction. It is crucial to have a profound understanding of the connotation of intelligent shipping, and engage in the research and development of intelligent navigation technologies and systems for ships. This will enable ships to better adapt to economic and technological changes through intelligent technologies in complex and ever-changing environments, enhance transportation efficiency, reduce costs, facilitate the digital transformation of the shipping industry, and boost its international competitiveness.

Therefore, based on massive ships’ data, shipping knowledge, conducting research on key technologies such as ship navigation situation and environmental perception, ship trajectory planning, ship collision avoidance decision-making, ship intelligent control, as well as intelligent navigation systems holds significant importance for enhancing the level of ship intelligence and reducing the ship accident rate. Focusing on the theme of "Intelligent Navigation of Ships: Perception, Decision making, and Control", we encourage scholars worldwide to promote interdisciplinary and integrative research on global technological innovations in intelligent navigation and jointly explore key scientific issues in the theory and practice of intelligent ship navigation.

Topics of Interest (include but are not limited to):

  • Environmental perception and information fusion
  • Ship collision avoidance decision-making
  • Intelligent navigation for ships
  • Ship path planning
  • Motion control for marine vehicles
  • Intelligent ship control theory and technology
  • Autonomous navigation of ships
  • Intelligent navigation system
  • Intelligent ship navigation risk quantification

Guest Editors

Dr. Ke Zhang
Assistant Researcher, China Waterborne Transport Research Institute
ORCID: 0000-0003-0802-2389
Email: zhangk@wti.ac.cn
Research Interests: Intelligent transportation, Intelligent navigation of ships, and ship collision risk assessment

Assoc. Prof. Xiaoyang Gao
Dalian Maritime University
ORCID: 0000-0002-8315-7315
Email: xiaoyang_gao@yeah.net
Research Interests: Intelligent navigation control and robust optimization of ships

Dr. Xingya Zhao
Chief Officer / Wuhan University of Technology
Email: zhaoxingya@whut.edu.cn
Research Interests: Intelligent collision avoidance, Ship autonomous navigation, and testing of autonomous navigation systems

Submission & Review

Accepted Article Types: Original research, reviews, technical papers

Subject Areas: Intelligent shipping, unmanned marine systems

Submission Portal: https://ojs.apspublisher.com/index.php/jaet

Evaluation Criteria:

  • Innovation – 30%
  • Technical soundness – 50%
  • Contribution to the field – 20%