Pilots, who now board ships to help crew to enter ports, and ‘vessel traffic services’, which monitor traffic and provide recommendations to avoid hazards, will need to take control of the vessel remotely. Ways to connect ropes between tugs and crewless ships will be needed. Further ahead, autonomous ports will need to interact with one another and along logistics chains, to ensure that cargo flows seamlessly without bottlenecks and delays. Integrating all the different systems is a major challenge.
EMBED AUTONOMY IN LEGAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS
Maritime trade is heavily regulated through a web of international rules negotiated over centuries by many countries with many legal systems. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) sets out the rights and responsibilities of states for vessels under their jurisdiction. The framework seems well equipped to incorporate autonomous ships. But there are challenges.
Long-established legal concepts underlying maritime law must be reconsidered. For instance, the concepts of ‘seaworthiness’ (the condition of the vessel and the ability of crew to operate it), ‘master’ (a single person in charge of a vessel) and the ‘genuine link’ (between the vessel and the state conferring its nationality on that vessel through its flag) no longer hold for autonomous vessels. Whether the nationality of a vessel is a suitable basis for regulating autonomous ships needs to be questioned, given that their operation can involve many actors spread around the globe.
The IMO has begun to develop a code for autonomous ships, although it has yet to set goals, requirements and rules. Initially, the code will be non-mandatory, potentially becoming mandatory in 2028. It will aim to balance the benefits of these
technologies against safety and security concerns, the impact on the environment and on international trade, the potential costs to the industry and the impact on personnel on board and ashore.
Key research questions include: how to design the land-based communications and smart navigation systems that ships interact with. How can the code be harmonized with other national and international regulations — for instance, those related to equipment in ports and land-based logistics? How can conformity with the code be verified? What skills and training are needed for operators in remote- control centres?
Legal researchers should address civil liability, for when third parties incur damages caused by autonomous vessels. Currently, those affected need to prove a wrongful action or omission by a person or by the ship. It is hard to hold AI accountable. Interpretations will also vary across jurisdictions. If companies cannot assess their liability exposure, they might not invest in autonomous vessels and infrastructures. The European Commission’s development of an AI Liability Directive offers a positive example, because it will lay down rules for operating markets and standards of proof for claims involving AI-based systems.
SET OUT THE CASE FOR AUTONOMOUS SHIPS
The economic costs and benefits of ship automation and autonomy need to be established if the technology is to be taken up. Balancing all the factors across many parties is challenging, however. It is hard to know how many crew members will be required, on board or on shore. The impacts of illness, strikes and technical problems, and thus rates of shutdowns, must be judged.
More evidence is also needed regarding the economic,
environmental and safety implications of autonomous vessels. Equity is key: who will reap the benefits and who will bear the costs? The societal costs of lost crew jobs must be counted, but automated shipping will also require higher-skilled staff. Redundancy payments and costs of hiring or training staff need to be factored in, from business and welfare perspectives. The existing workforce will need reskilling, with new training opportunities put in place — across naval architects, maritime engineers, ship crew and remote-control operators, port and shipping managers and maritime administrators.
Optimizing operations and logistics chains might deliver savings, yet managing vast quantities of data adds expense. Investments will be needed for archiving and sharing data securely, and for building and staffing data centres.
Inequitable distribution of benefits and costs of innovation can lower public trust in regulators and politicians. The concentration of economic power in the large corporations that might control global autonomous logistics chains must be looked at: for example, food security could be affected if a few multinationals control key supply chains.
Unlike for self-driving cars, there is scant research on how the public perceives risk around autonomous vessels. More studies are needed, especially in contexts in which world views might conflict. For instance, in Canadian coastal areas, Indigenous peoples have a right to be involved in decision-making on matters related to protection of the marine environment.
Autonomous ships are already on the horizon. For them to really make a difference, scholars need to improve understanding of how waterborne autonomy can be adopted.
IIMS would like to express its thanks to the
nature.com website where this article was first published.
The Report • June 2023 • Issue 104 | 69
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