has made a study of the regulation of unmanned merchant ships. The study is due to appear in the next issue of the respected Journal of International Maritime Law.
Unmanned shipping would represent a breakthrough comparable to drone aircraft and driverless cars. Experimental technical studies are currently in progress.
Unmanned shipping may involve remotely controlled ships as well as autonomous, computer-controlled ships, or a mixture of both technologies.
Eric Van Hooydonk’s report is the very first all-inclusive study of the subject. It covers international law of the sea as well as national public law and private maritime law. It examines how effective existing maritime law would be for regulating unmanned commercial shipping, the need for a specific regulatory regime and amendment of the existing rules.
The first conclusion of the study is that unmanned vessels can be regarded as “ships” for the purposes of most international regulations. Little regulatory intervention is called for in this respect. In principle existing maritime law will continue to apply.
More difficult are the international rules governing the relationship between the flag state and the nationality of the ship. As it now stands international law requires a “genuine link” between the flag state and the ship, which inter alia finds expression in the regulation and control of the officers and crew of the ship, who are by definition absent on board an unmanned ship. In this respect international law will require fundamental reconsideration.
National regulations governing master and crew lose their relevance. The roles and legal status of the pilot, tug, harbourmaster and traffic controller will all have to be thoroughly reviewed upon the advent of unmanned shipping. Perhaps the most enduring figures will be the stowaway concealed on board the unmanned ship, and the maritime terrorist or hacker.
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