Regulatory framework analysis for the unmanned inland waterway vessel

Abstract

Several research and innovation initiatives have been pursued worldwide for the development of autonomous and unmanned ships. However, these ships’ wider adoption is limited by the existing regulatory framework, which presently does not provide clear guidelines and requirements for the design and operation of autonomous ships. The aim of this study is to comprehensively analyse the existing maritime safety and security regulatory framework including the national and international regulations for designing, building, testing and operating the unmanned next-generation inland waterways (IWW) vessel considered in the AUTOSHIP project operating in the Flemish inland waters. This study initiates with the identification of the regulatory bodies controlling the operation and testing of the investigated vessel and then identifies barriers in regulations where amendments or new developments are required. Subsequently, a strategy for overcoming these barriers is proposed. The main regulatory gaps that are identified include the requirements for navigation, emergency and environment protection functions, where new definitions are required for unmanned ship operations (e.g. master, crew, remote control centre). Moreover, some of the regulations explicitly specify the existence of crew on the ships for navigation, emergency and environment protection functions. A three-phase strategy is proposed to overcome the current regulatory barriers.

Formation Control of Swarming Vessels Using a Virtual Matrix Approach and ISOT Guidance Algorithm

“…The d row and d col of the virtual matrix are set to 15 m each. Further, each agent is provided a cell number of the virtual matrix [(1,3), (3,2), (3,4), (5,1), (5,5)]. The cases shown in Figure 3a-f represent the wedge, inverted wedge, T, inverted T, column, and row formations, respectively.…”

“…2. Accordingly, the designated cell (5,5) of agent 2 in the green square exhibits the trajectory of the arc indicated by the blue arrow with a radius equal to the distance from the virtual leader vessel. 3.…”

“…Based on previous research, ASVs have been extensively applied to maritime missions. The AUTOSHIP project uses full autonomous navigation, self-diagnostic prognostics, and operation scheduling for autonomous multimodal transport to relieve road congestion and associated pollution [4,5]. Further, YARA Birkeland, equipped with a fully autonomous mooring system, is aimed at operating berthing and unberthing without human intervention [6].…”

“…3),(3,2),(3,4),(5,1), (5,5)] Inverted wedge [(1,1), (1,5), (3,2), (3,4), (5,3)] T [(1,1), (1,3), (1,5), (2,3), (5,3)] Inverted T [(1,3), (4,3), (5,1), (5,3), (5,5)] Column [(1,3), (2,3), (3,3), (4,3), (5,3)] Row [(3,1), (3,2), (3,3), (3,4), (3,5)]…”

The application of a system‐based risk management framework and social network analysis to the Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship system: Who are the decision‐makers in the wider system?

“…There is also an autonomous ship, the Mayflower, which is a joint project between MSubs, Plymouth University, ProMare, and IBM, where the automated systems onboard the MASS control and navigate the MASS (Maritime Coastguard Agency, 2020). However, there are currently no formal regulations that have been developed specifically for MASS, which brings concerns for the safety of their operation (Amro et al, 2020;Komianos, 2018;Nzengu et al, 2021). Although MASS are expected to bring safety benefits by removing human involvement in parts of the system, removing factors such as fatigue and boredom, also the automation has the potential to perform tasks more reliably, if they are not regulated appropriately they may bring in new hazards (Hoem et al, 2018;Kim & Schröder-Hinrichs, 2021).…”