The Legal Research On Unmanned Ships

Unmanned ships are those which are capable of controlled movement on the water in the absence of any onboard crew.The biggest difference from an ordinary ship is that the ship has no one onboard.Its technical directions are mainly divided into two categories: remote control by a shore-based remote controller and autonomous navigation by the ship’s pre-programmed systems before deployment.Unmanned ships belong to ships legally,enjoy the rights of ships,and fulfill the obligations of ships.The shore-based remote controllers are equivalent to the crew,and the chief pre-programmer of an autonomous ship does not yet have the legal attributes of the master.The seaworthiness of an unmanned ship needs to meet the two dimensions:ship seaworthiness and crew seaworthiness.It puts forward higher requirements for the hull design,construction,crew training,and certification.From a legal point of view,unmanned ships accept the adjustments of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea(COLREGS),but there are still many unsuitable aspects in the specific application,such as lookouts,good ship craft,and visual mutual vision.After an unmanned ship collides,the ship owner shall be liable for the fault.Unmanned ships pose challenges to the existing international maritime convention system.The law systems should clarify their legal status,recognize their limited personality,clarify the legal status of shore-based remote controller and the requirements for ship manning.The "Ship Craft","Lookout","Mutual See" and other provisions in COLREGS should be revised and adjusted to facilitate the application of unmanned ships.