Anil Ozturk, PhD Candidate at Maynooth University Department of Law, has recently written a chapter for the book “Sustainability in the Maritime Domain: Towards Ocean Governance and Beyond”, published by Springer.
In the chapter, Ozturk presents an analysis of lessons learned from robotics and AI in a liability context. Pressures on the sustainability of maritime trade and ocean-based economic interests have led to the exploration of marine applications of robotics and AI, which have the potential to improve safety, increase efficiency, and take ‘dull, dangerous, and dirty tasks’ away from humans on board ships. First, the concepts of “Robotics” and “AI” are defined and their contribution to sustainability assessed. Ozturk indicates that one of their most significant marine applications is in autonomous surface vessels (ASVs) and autonomous underwater vessels (AUVs). Following an assessment of the current state of the art for such vessels, the chapter examines the existing legal frameworks (International Conventions, domestic legisl ation) under which they operate, noting that “a significant part of the regulations that ASVs and AUVs will have to comply with ... are based on the presumption that seafaring vessels are always human-operated, or manned”. As one of the main types of maritime accident is a collision between two vehicles or a vehicle colliding with a stationary object, there are a number of shortcomings in the existing legal framework for liability as they relate to autonomous vehicles, which may, in some cases, be completely independent of human operators. EU models have been developed to identify the liability for other autonomous artificial agents (e.g. unmanned aerial vehicles), and it is suggested that these can be used to define the liability regime of autonomous marine vessels. Different types of liability are presented, and liability is then assessed within the prism of sustainability. Finally, the chapter indicates that while ASVs and AUVs can directly help achieve elements of a number of sustainable development goals , their lack of compliance with existing liability regimes can place heavy financial burdens on their manufacturers and users, limiting the use of such vehicles and slowing technological innovation. The chapter argues that a balanced and consistent liability regime is essential for the economic viability of the maritime transport sector, and presents how such a regime should look like.
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