Page 18: of Marine News Magazine (June 2023)

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Column

Autonomous Vessels that it has budgeted $700 million in high-tech naval sea ment of $3.9 billion in the autonomous ship business. mines and other smart weapons at sea. The projected investment by 2030 is $8.2 billion. The

For years, the U.S. Navy has been testing drone ves- emergence of USV and MASS challenges the concepts of sels under its drone boat evaluation program, Ghost Fleet marine insurance, limitation of liability statutes, and the

Overlord. The U.S. Navy is focusing on autonomous ves- Rules of the Road. In March 2023, the USCG released its sels for use above and below the surface. In February 2023, Unmanned Systems Strategic Plan (USSP) to implement the USNS. Apalachicola was delivered measuring 337 feet a risk-based approach to develop manning expertise and in length with autonomous capabilities to transport troops to collaborate internationally to apply lessons learned. A and to serve as a platform for Osprey aircraft. It can oper- Maritime Workforce Guidebook was recently introduced ate autonomously for up to 30 days at sea. during the 2023 Singapore Maritime Week to recognize

All naval nations have and/or are developing drones and maritime job redesign to account for the changing needs automated vessels. How will the development of AUV of automated and remote-controlled vessels. and military MASS affect the traditional rules of engage- The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has ment? On the military side, there is little public discussion. developed a multinational working group to address safety,

On the commercial side of the development of USV and legal, and port issues affecting MASS. The IMO has already

MASS, the scoping process is well underway. engaged in scoping exercises to consider how COLREGs may be adapted to MASS. In April, the Joint Working

Group met in London. They considered the continuing

Commercial use in development need for a human Master either onboard or at a remote

Commercially, automated vessels, fully automated ves- sels, and remote-controlled vessels are in development. operations center (ROC). Among continuing discussion is how to license and certify an ROC as Master. Their next

Yahoo Finance reported that in 2022 there was an invest-

A U.S. Navy L3Harris Arabian Fox

MAST-13 uncrewed surface vessel sails during an exercise in the

Arabian Gulf in January 2023.

Anita Chebahtah / U.S. Navy 18 | MN June 2023

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