Regulatory framework is vital for accelerated adoption of MASS, new report says

The widespread adoption of maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) into global shipping hinges on a ‘robust’ regulatory framework and a ‘human-centric’ international collaboration, a new joint report by UK-based classification society Lloyd’s Register and Japan’s shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has stressed.

The report calls for the creation of regulatory sandboxes—controlled environments where new maritime technologies can be tested under real-world conditions without facing the full burden of existing regulations.

It suggests that these sandboxes, involving collaboration between regulatory bodies, governments and industry stakeholders, could play a ‘vital’ role in ‘promoting regulatory harmonization, enhancing trust, and stimulating innovation’ for MASS within the industry.

MASS technologies hold the potential to impact a profound change on the maritime industry. By combining applied human intelligence of the ship’s crew with AI-backed software, MASS could deliver not just sustainability and fuel consumption gains, but also improve onboard safety, the report proposes.

However, one ‘critical’ element should not be left out from the puzzle, according to LR and MOL: the human element.

Placing humans—or, rather, our own intelligence and dexterity—at the center of the autonomy map might ensure that the evolution of autonomous systems in maritime will enhance the critical analysis and decision-making roles of human operators, instead of completely replacing them, the report further discusses.

That said, for MASS technologies to be widely implemented, joint efforts on a wider scale are needed, LR and MOL have said. The two parties’ have put forward the notion that a collaborative international effort could assist in guaranteeing that operational safety standards align with the emerging and ever-changing capabilities of autonomous technologies.

One of the reasons why the report calls for government entities and other regulatory bodies across the world to come together is the fact that automation – much like most modern technology – tends to advance faster than it can sometimes be followed. On top of that, different countries possess varying legal frameworks pertaining to maritime autonomy and its regulation.

The report by LR and MOL proposes that organizations should ’embrace cooperation and align with global standards’ to ensure the effective integration and interoperability of MASS operating across territorial waters.

In regards to worldwide frameworks, to facilitate the secure operation of MASS, LR and MOL state that MASS need to adhere to international standards.

Such developments could be possible through the regulatory sandboxes formed to deliver the intended outcome, working to offer ‘evidence-based results’ within the timeframe required for the integration into the MASS Code, the report concludes.

In related news, earlier this month LR entered a joint development program (JDP) with the Korea Research Institute of Ships & Ocean Engineering (KRISO), focused on verifying and validating marine autonmous functions and operations in order to support a wider uptake of the systems.

The project involves an effort to create a comprehensive testing environment to integrate different verification technologies, which could assess the hardware, software and AI elements of MASS systems.