Autonomous Vehicles Solve (and Create) Problems for Ports Autonomous vehicles are increasingly sophisticated defensive tools for ports wanting to protect against maritime threats - including attacks from other autonomous vehicles. In December 15 last year, the Security Service of Ukraine reported that its underwater drone had struck a Russian submarine in Novorossiysk. The incident highlighted just how sophisticated potential threats have become. Harbor cameras were likely hacked, providing real-time visual evidence of the attack, with associated AI possibly identifying and guiding the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to its target. The value of AI is evidenced by the many technology partnerships that are forming between platform, software and sensor creators. Late last year, Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) announced a partnership with Mythos AI to integrate AI-driven autonomy software across OPT’s fleet of WAM-V autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs). These vehicles leverage real-time edge processing, multi-sensor fusion and adaptive learning for enhanced situational awareness, obstacle avoidance and multi-vehicle coordination. Dr. Fritz Stahr, chief technology officer at Open Ocean Robotics, says the integration of AI to analyze data streams from autonomous vehicles is transforming the field. Enhanced Horizon, Open Ocean Robotics' AI-driven analytics took kit, delivers real-time object detection, classification, and tracking using optical and thermal cameras, giving operators immediate situational awareness above the surface. For underwater intelligence, Underwater Listener is an AI-enabled acoustic monitoring system that detects and visualizes underwater sounds in real time. It captures acoustic activity from sources such as ship engines, marine mammals, and underwater machinery, streaming insights directly to XplorerView. As Shane Swiderek, Product Marketing Manager of Sofar Ocean, points out: “Detection only matters if it's fast enough to act on. Real-time processing at the sensor closes the gap between identifying a threat and responding to it.” One of the most pressing challenges is having a clear, real-time understanding