The establishment of international regulatory sandboxes—controlled environments for testing new technologies—will be crucial for unlocking the potential of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS), according to a report by Lloyd’s Register (LR) and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL).
These frameworks are vital for promoting regulatory harmonisation, enhancing trust, and stimulating innovation for MASS within the maritime industry, ensuring that the benefits are distributed equitably across all stakeholders while maintaining the safety and integrity of maritime operations, suggests the study.
The report “Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS)” recognises that MASS could have a profound impact on the maritime sector, offering significant advancements in operational efficiency, safety, and sustainability. It emphasises that by combining the applied human intelligence of the crew with AI software, MASS presents an opportunity to enhance safety and achieve operational performance.
Placing the human at the centre of autonomy ensures that the evolution of autonomous systems in maritime will enhance, rather than replace, the critical analysis and decision-making roles of human operators, suggests the report.
The report delves into the transformative potential MASS and provides a roadmap for the maritime industry to address critical challenges through the adoption of these advanced technologies.
It emphasises that MASS must adhere to international regulations and safety standards, including the upcoming International Maritime Organisation (IMO) MASS Code, the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (COLREGs), the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).
The integration of MASS into the global maritime landscape requires not just technological innovation, but also a robust and adaptable regulatory framework. Our collaboration with MOL aims to pave the way for the safe and efficient implementation of autonomous technologies in shipping, ensuring they meet the highest standards of safety and compliance.
..Joseph Morelos, Maritime Complex Systems and Autonomy Leader at LR, said.
Regulatory sandboxes – a testbed for MASS
A Regulatory sandbox for transportation is a controlled – but experimental – environment where new transportation technologies, services, and business models can be tested under real-world conditions without facing the full burden of existing regulations. Such initiatives have evolved in acknowledgment of the rapid pace of technological advancements such as MASS, with the aim of discovering and removing issues with their integration into existing regulatory frameworks,
whilst avoiding the stifling of innovation and maintaining public and operator safety.
This approach serves as a platform for regulators and policymakers to observe the real-world implications of new technologies and services before shaping and
formalising the requisite new regulations.
By allowing participants to operate within a controlled environment, regulators can gain insights into the potential impacts on safety, infrastructure, and
other relevant factors, enabling them to make informed decisions about gaps or challenges in existing frameworks.
Proper automation should reduce the number of alarms – and that should be a measure of its sucess or even approval. Rather than an “alarming event” creating an alarm to wake the watchkeeper up yet again, the system should, by use of many more sensors and terrabytes of data be able to take actions to fix the root cause directly and only cause a real alarm when it is unable to do so. Adecision that should take milliseconds? …Back to my dreams…..
When you think about human factor for the statistics of marine casualties and accidents, you come to understand the necessity of a MASS code for owners. But I wonder about what if the pirates starts to use artificial intelligence and automation at the same time? Legally who or what will be responsible for that kind of action?