Multi-Agent Systems for Marine Applications: From Theory to Practice

Dear Colleagues,

The ocean, covering over 70% of our planet, represents one of the final frontiers for technological exploration and sustainable development. To address the growing complexities of marine operations—from autonomous navigation and resource monitoring to environmental protection and underwater infrastructure management—innovative computational paradigms are urgently required. Multi-Agent Systems (MAS), with their inherent capabilities for distributed problem-solving, coordination, and adaptive behavior, offer a transformative approach to these challenges.

We are pleased to announce a call for papers for a forthcoming Special Issue dedicated to "Multi-Agent Systems for Marine Applications: From Theory to Practice." This initiative aims to bridge the gap between advanced theoretical MAS research and its practical, real-world implementation in the marine domain. We seek to compile high-quality contributions that demonstrate how autonomous, intelligent agents can collaborate to solve critical problems in oceanic and coastal environments.

We invite original research and review articles covering, but not limited to, the following areas:

• MAS for Autonomous Marine Vehicles: Coordination of UAVs, USVs, and AUVs; swarm intelligence; and fleet collaboration for mapping, surveillance, and search and rescue.
• Distributed Ocean Monitoring and Sensing: Smart sensor networks; and data fusion and interpretation for climate study, pollution tracking, and ecosystem health.
• Maritime Traffic Management and Safety: Agent-based simulation for port logistics; collision avoidance systems; and cooperative vessel traffic services (VTS).
• Underwater Communication and Networking: MAS protocols for delay-tolerant and acoustic networks, and information sharing in constrained environments.
• Marine Resource Management: Multi-agent frameworks for sustainable fisheries, offshore energy grid management, and marine spatial planning.
• Human–Agent Collaboration at Sea: Interfaces for operator–agent teams, and decision support systems for ship crews and coastal command centers.
• Resilience and Fault Tolerance: Robust MAS architectures for harsh, unpredictable marine conditions.
• From Simulation to Real-World Deployment: Case studies, field tests, and lessons learned in transitioning MAS theories to operational marine platforms.

We encourage contributions from researchers and practitioners in computer science, robotics, ocean engineering, maritime operations, and environmental science. Join us in advancing the state-of-the-art and charting a course toward smarter, safer, and more sustainable interactions with our marine world.

Prof. Dr. Zhengrong Xiang
Prof. Dr. Xiaofei Yang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.