IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee will finalize its analysis of ship safety treaties, to assess next steps for regulating Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS).
Namely, the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), at its 103rd session in May 2021, has completed a regulatory scoping exercise to analyze relevant ship safety treaties, in order to assess how Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) could be regulated.
The completion of the scoping exercise represents an important first step, aiming to pave the way to focused discussions to ensure that regulation will keep pace with technological developments.
The scoping exercise started in 2017 to determine how safe, secure and environmentally sound MASS operations might be addressed in IMO instruments.
The exercise involved:
- Assessing a substantial number of IMO treaty instruments under the remit of the MSC and identifying provisions which applied to MASS and prevented MASS operations; or
- Applied to MASS and do not prevent MASS operations and require no actions; or
- Applied to MASS and do not prevent MASS operations but may need to be amended or clarified; and/or
- May contain gaps; or
- Have no application to MASS operations.
Varying degrees of autonomy were considered:
- Crewed ship with automated processes and decision support (Degree One);
- Remotely controlled ship with seafarers on board (Degree Two);
- Remotely controlled ship without seafarers on board (Degree Three);
- Fully autonomous ship (Degree Four).
The outcome of the regulatory scoping exercise was discussed and completed by the MASS Working Group which met during MSC 103.
For each provision, the exercise identified whether MASS could potentially be regulated by: equivalences as provided for by the instruments or developing interpretations; and/or amending existing instruments; and/or developing a new instrument; or none of the above as a result of the analysis.
The outcome highlights a number of high-priority issues, cutting across several instruments, that would need to be addressed at a policy level to determine future work
says IMO.
These involve the development of MASS terminology and definitions, including an internationally agreed definition of MASS and clarifying the meaning of the term “master”, “crew” or “responsible person”, particularly in Degrees Three (remotely controlled ship) and Four (fully autonomous ship).
Other key issues include addressing the functional and operational requirements of the remote-control station/centre and the possible designation of a remote operator as seafarer.
In addition, common potential gaps and themes identified across several safety treaties regarding provisions containing manual operations and alarms on the bridge; provisions related to actions by personnel (such as firefighting, cargoes stowage and securing and maintenance); watchkeeping; implications for search and rescue; and information required to be on board for safe operation.
The Committee noted that the best way forward to address MASS in the IMO regulatory framework could be in a holistic manner through the development of a goal-based MASS instrument.
Such an instrument could take the form of a “MASS Code”, with goal(s), functional requirements and corresponding regulations, suitable for all four degrees of autonomy, and addressing the various gaps and themes identified by the RSE
according to the IMO.
IMO’s Legal and Facilitation Committees are currently also in the process of conducting regulatory scoping exercises on conventions under their purview.
