Maritime Body Approves Revised Autonomous Ships Roadmap

The International Maritime Organisations (IMO) facilitation committee has approved the revised road map on Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (Mass), including issues related to the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (FAL Convention).

This comes after the IMO's Facilitation Committee held its 48th session in person at its headquarters in London last week.

Watchara Chiemanukulkit, Thailands maritime attach and alternate permanent representative of Thailand to the IMO, chaired the session.

The committee meets annually to deal with matters related to the facilitation of international maritime traffic, including the arrival, stay and departure of ships, persons and cargo from ports.

It also addresses electronic business and aims to ensure that the right balance is struck between regulation and the facilitation of international maritime trade.

The committee updates the FAL Convention.

The IMO said in a media statement on Monday that the committee had considered the report of the joint Maritime Safety Committee, Legal Committee and Facilitation Committee, Joint Working Group on Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships, whichhad earlier met for its second session in April 2023.

The committee concurred with a number of elements contained in the report, including on the role and responsibilities of the Mass master, Mass crew and remote operation centres, the IMO said.

Among these, the committee concurred, in principle, that there should be a human master responsible for a Mass, regardless of the mode of operation or degree/level of autonomy.

However, the master may not need to be on board, depending on the technology used in the Mass and the human presence on board, if any.

Regardless of mode of operation or degree or level of autonomy, the master of a Mass should have the means to intervene when necessary.

Only a single master should be responsible for a Mass at any one time, although several masters could be responsible for a Mass on a single voyage, under certain conditions, the committee said.

It said a detailed discussion is needed about the circumstances where a master of a Mass could be responsible for several vessels at a time.

Under the revised roadmap, the committee is expected to assess the finalised non-mandatory Mass Code by Spring 2025, and to assess the adopted mandatory Mass Code and consider proposed amendments to the annex to the FAL Convention by 2026. The amendments are expected to be adopted by Spring 2027.

The third meeting of the joint working group takes place from 8-10 May 2024.