1.2 The Need for Legal Clarity in Autonomous Shipping
Private stakeholders involved in financing, building, insuring and operation of MASS need to understand the standards that they must comply with. These standards have contractual implications regarding the construction of the ships and their equipment. They also affect the training and education of seafarers,(1) Illustrated by the discussions in Gholam Reza Emad, Hossein Enshaei and Samrat Ghosh, 'Identifying seafarer training needs for operating future autonomous ships: a systematic literature review' (2021) 14 AJMOA 114. and they are likely to influence the determination of liability following accidents.(2) Felix Collin, 'Unmanned ships and fault as the basis of shipowner's liability' in Henrik Ringbom, Erik Røsæg and Trond Solvangs (eds), Autonomous Ships and the Law (1st ed, Routledge 2021) 91-93. Furthermore, national maritime authorities need legal clarity, as they must know the standards that they are expected to enforce, who they are obligated to report to, and when and what to report.(3) Hazel Sivori and Lauren Brunton, Out of the Box. Implementing autonomy and assuring artificial intelligence in the maritime industry (Lloyd’s Register 2023) 29.
As of now, the only MASS-specific rules at the international level are interim guidelines for MASS trials.(4) Thesis Sections 2.3.2 and 2.4 concerning the guidelines adopted by the IMO and the EU, respectively. So far, these guidelines have arguably provided sufficient regulatory coverage. However, if MASS are to become a meaningful part of global shipping, a clear, comprehensive and permanent international legal framework must be established.(5) Henrik Ringbom, 'Developments, challenges, and prospects at the IMO' in Henrik Ringbom, Erik Røsæg and Trond Solvangs (eds), Autonomous Ships and the Law (1st ed, Routledge 2021) 57. The IMO is scheduled to introduce such a framework in May 2026, commonly referred to as the "MASS Code", with its final and mandatory version scheduled for adoption in 2030, and coming into effect in 2032.(6) Maritime Safety Committee Session 109 Agenda item 5, Development of a Goal-Based Instrument for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) (5 December 2024) Annex II, Revised Road Map for Developing a Goal-Based Code for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS). Meanwhile, the requirements for high-risk AI systems in the AIA are set to come into effect in stages between 2025 and 2027, creating a need to clarify the relationship between the AIA and the MASS Code.