Questions and challenges: Maritime Autonomous Systems Regulatory Conference

Maritime UK organised the Maritime Autonomous Systems Regulatory Conference in January 2019. Here we look back at the conference and consider the future of regulation in maritime autonomy. 

From legal and insurance implications to cyber vulnerability and the requirement for new skills – the advance of maritime autonomy raises a host of questions and challenges, which were discussed at the Maritime Autonomous Systems Regulatory Conference 2019.

Organised by Maritime UK’s MAS Regulatory Working Group, this major global conference was held in London in January.  Attended by more than 100 delegates from 15 countries, the conference featured a wide range of presentations by 20 speakers.

Maritime UK and the wider industry are taking the lead in the area of maritime autonomous systems, says Robert Carington, UK Chamber of Shipping policy manager and secretary of the working group. “We are taking the initiative – saying this is what we want and this is how we are going about it. There is a focus on engagement and relationships with government and this collaborative approach is working.”

The MAS Regulatory Working Group brings together a ‘broad church’ of members representing industry associations, technical bodies, insurance providers, legal experts, classification, manufacturers and ship owners. “Effectively we are the industry voice to look at work being done on MAS, particularly unmanned ships and the regulatory side of this,” says Robert Carington. “We are the only body in the UK that brings together such a wide variety of the different strands of the industry. We then feed what we have produced through to the MCA (Maritime and Coastguard Agency), DfT (Department for Transport), MoD (Ministry of Defence) and the government.

The fourth annual MASREG conference took place two months after the publication of the MaritimeAutonomous Surface Ships (MASS) code of practice – version two – by Maritime UK.

The working group has two main outputs, these being the code of practice and the annual conference.

“In November 2018 we produced version two of the code. This is a best practice document to advise MAS operators of what they should be doing in terms of operations, design of vessel, training, safety management, etc. We are now working on version three. The conference brings everyone together so that we learn what people are thinking about and where the main concerns are. From that we feed into a draft for the code.”

A key topic at the 2019 conference was the scoping exercise launched by the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee. Other issues discussed were technology progress, vessel standards, legal considerations and liability, cyber risks and how autonomous maritime systems will fit into the overall transport infrastructures, including smart ports and smart roads.

“This was also one of the first conferences to get the unions involved. They are key industry partners and of course their members are going to be affected. We need a responsible approach, which ensures that the skills are there and the people are trained,” says Robert Carington.

Work on version three of the code of practice will lead to a first draft in September and publication by the end of 2019, ready for an official launch at the 2020 MASREG conference.

“Because the technology is moving so fast, you can produce a code and immediately it requires further updating,” he points out. “This is a living document.”