The International Maritime Organization (IMO) – the global regulatory body for international shipping – is investigating how autonomous ship will operate safely, securely and in an environmentally friendly way.

IMO’s senior technical body, the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), has endorsed a framework for a regulatory scoping exercise. This includes preliminary definitions of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS), which are ships that, to a varying degree, can operate independently of humans.

The levels of autonomy are:

• Ships with automated processes and decision support. Seafarers are on board to operate and control shipboard systems and functions. Some operations may be automated
• Remotely controlled ships without seafarers on board. The ship is controlled and operated from another location. There are no seafarers on board
• Fully autonomous ships. The operating system is able to make decisions and determine actions by itself

Ships could be operating at one or more degrees of autonomy for the duration of a single voyage.

The scoping exercise will start by identifying current provisions in an agreed list of IMO instruments and assess how they might be applicable to ships with varying degrees of autonomy.

An analysis will also be conducted to determine the most appropriate way of addressing MASS operations, looking at the human element, technology and operational factors.

The IMO intends to report back at its next MSC session, which takes place from the 3-7 December 2018.