Insights



  • Autonomous Shipping (2) – Public International Law Aspects

    Autonomous Shipping (2) – Public International Law Aspects

    A half-day conference organised by UCL Autonomous Shipping Project with The Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law, Swansea About the conference: Last October UCL and Swansea’s Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law (IISTL) co-hosted an in-person event on the civil and commercial law…

  • Autonomous Shipping – Liability and Contractual Issues

    Autonomous Shipping – Liability and Contractual Issues

    A half-day conference organised by UCL Autonomous Shipping Project with The Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law Swansea About the conference: The autonomous shipping revolution is beginning. Although autonomous merchant vessels are currently experimental, it is likely that they will be entering commercial service…

  • Project Leader Dr Melis Özdel cited in Vox article on the future of autonomous boats

    Project Leader Dr Melis Özdel cited in Vox article on the future of autonomous boats

    The UCL Autonomous Shipping Project is pleased to announce that Dr Melis Özdel, Project Leader, has been cited in an article on the news and opinion website Vox. The article, by Rebecca Heilweil, is entitled ‘The unsinkable potential of autonomous boats’ and can be read in…

  • Project Leader Dr Melis Özdel’s article published in the Industrial Law Journal

    Project Leader Dr Melis Özdel’s article published in the Industrial Law Journal

    The UCL Autonomous Shipping Project is pleased to announce that Project Leader, Dr Melis Özdel, has published an article in the Industrial Law Journal this month (October 2021). Dr Özdel’s article is titled: ‘Reconceptualising the Nautical Fault Exception in the Fog of Emerging Technologies.’ The…

  • Autonomous ships and their legal implications

    Autonomous ships and their legal implications

    The shipping industry is preparing for a revolution from labour-intensive to autonomous shipping. The world has already witnessed a number of prototypes undergoing trials so that the commercial operation of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) can one day become a reality. The progress reached so…

  • ‘Is a self-driving car smarter than a seven-month-old? Or, how to ask the wrong question to get to an irrelevant answer’ by Dr Frank Stevens

    ‘Is a self-driving car smarter than a seven-month-old? Or, how to ask the wrong question to get to an irrelevant answer’ by Dr Frank Stevens

    In The Economist of 4 September 2021, an article was published under the title ‘Is a self-driving car smarter than a seven-month-old?’. If you guessed, from the way the question is phrased, that the answer was ‘no’, you would have been entirely correct. Ultimately, the article (intentionally…

  • ‘On the Regulatory Challenges Linked to MASS’ by Professor Henrik Ringbom

    ‘On the Regulatory Challenges Linked to MASS’ by Professor Henrik Ringbom

    The regulatory challenges relating to Marine Autonomous Surface Ships (“MASS”) involve two main areas of interest. First, there are the public law rules, covering safety, manning, technical and operational standards etc. for ships. These are the rules that determine whether it is lawful to operate…

  • ‘A realistic approach to the development of autonomous ships and the law’ by Professor Johan Schelin

    ‘A realistic approach to the development of autonomous ships and the law’ by Professor Johan Schelin

    An expert on artificial intelligence once said that nothing is as difficult as trying to foresee the future, especially when it comes to technological developments and their significance. In the late 1960 and early 1970s people were very fascinated by space and landing on the…

  • ‘Carriage of Cargoes – Ports and Autonomy’ by Julian Clark

    ‘Carriage of Cargoes – Ports and Autonomy’ by Julian Clark

    A paper presented by Julian Clark at the ‘Autonomous Shipping – Liability and Contractual Issues Conference’ (27 October 2021, co-hosted by the UCL Autonomous Shipping Project and The Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law of Swansea). I would like to start by asking all…

  • Interview with Felix Collin

    Interview with Felix Collin

    In the third of a series of interviews involving experts in the fields of autonomous shipping and artificial intelligence, Project Leader Dr Melis Özdel and Project Editor Olivia Tolson spoke with Felix Collin, a doctoral candidate at the University of Turku. Felix is also a member…