While I don't have any deep foundational knowledge, I do know that: - the energy required for moving in a fluid grows sub-linear with the vessel's volume - la

While I don't have any deep foundational knowledge, I do know that: - the energy required for moving in a fluid grows sub-linear with the vessel's volume - larger motors tend to be more efficient - your autonomous swarm will be a gigantic waste of steel and batteries. Not to mention the problems around the autonomous part, without which you'd also have a huge waste of manpower. See also https://engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/38252/why-one-big-cargo-ship-is-more-efficient-than-10-or-100-smaller-ships https://engineering.stackexchange.com/questions/38252/why-on... for some points by people I assume know a bit more than me.