People from the Maritime Autonomy Regulation Lab, which was initially developed to understand how the Maritime & Coastguard Agency will regulate autonomous surface ships and support the wider UK industry, are now exploring how regulations will keep up with the new technologies.
Therefore, the team has been presenting people with autonomous ships, providing an insight on how they work in practice, including how they communicate with each other.
The team participated in London’s International Shipping week event, enabling the attendants understand how autonomous ships may communicate with other ships using an art installation of flags, with both current and speculative flag designs.
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In addition, experts from Solis Marine joined the team, presenting how data can be used to support the testing of autonomous ships and systems.
Katrina Kemp, Maritime & Coastguard Agency, that participates in the project, commented that automation in the shipping industry will improve safety, as ships will be placed in places that they normally wouldn’t, as they wouldn’t want to risk people’s lives.
This innovative approach to engaging with people to discuss how the MCA can support these developments is an exciting time.
MARlab is funded by the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund this work promotes the on-water testing of autonomous ships in the UK.
During London’s International Shipping Week the attendants discussed about a variety of issues that are on today’s shipping spotlight, from UK’s first port economic partnership, to Shell’s aim on a zero-incident industry, to IMO’s perspective that zero-emissions ships have to become more commercially attractive.