This project examines the future legal opportunities and challenges presented by the use of automated technology and unmanned vessels in international shipping. The project involves assessing the current domestic and international legal regimes, with respect to safe manning levels. It also considers why the proposed autonomous ships will struggle to provide the functional equivalent of the shipmaster and, how, or if, these vessels can comply with compulsory pilotage. At an international level, the project will evaluate what jurisdictional issues may arise and whether the current limitation regimes for maritime claims may be relied upon in the event of an incident involving an unmanned or autonomous ship. The project is assessing these issues from an Asian common law and commonwealth perspective, with a particular emphasis on Singapore’s legislative framework.

Publications

Articles

• “Can a Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV) be arrested? The Seaeye Leopard” [2020] LMCLQ 553
• “All hands off deck? The legal barriers to autonomous ships” (2017) 23(3) Journal of International Maritime Law 202-219

 Working Papers

• “Pushing the Limits: How Limitation of Liability Will Apply to Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships“, (2024) CML Working Paper Series, CML-WPS-2403
• “Contractual and Tortious Maritime Liability Regimes and the introduction of Autonomous Vessels“, (2023) CML Working Paper Series, CML-WPS-2303
• “All hands off deck? The legal barriers to autonomous ships”, (2017) CML Working Paper Series, CML-WPS-1706

Presentations

• “Limits of Liability for claims…arising on any distinct occasion”: issues interpreting article 6(1) of the LLMC 1976/1996 in the context of remotely operated crewless ships and autonomous ships”, CML Lunch Seminar Series, 14 April 2023
• “Collisions and Unmanned Ships: Is law reform necessary?”, CML Lunch Seminar Series, 14 April 2021
• “Remotely Operated Unmanned Vessels and their ‘crew’”, CML Lunch Seminar Series, 12 August 2020
• “Autonomous ships and marine insurance”, CML Seminar Series, 16 May 2019
• “Updates on Autonomous Ships: the ships; insurance; the law; opinions”, CML Lunch Seminar Series, 30 January 2019
• “Unmanned Ships and latent defects, what next for the Inchmaree Clause?”, CML Lunch Seminar Series, 19 September 2018
• “Package Limitation and the Hague-Visby Rules: a comment on Kyokuyo Ltd v “Legal issues for autonomous ships”, CML Lunch Seminar Series, 15 March 2017