Lloyd's Shipping & Trade Law

Smaller MASS (maritime autonomous surface ships), also referred to as USVs (unmanned surface vessels) or sea drones, are now in common use.1 They are built and used for purposes such as hydrographical surveys and data collection in hard-to-reach areas, and are also extensively used by the military. Larger cargo or passenger-carrying MASS are being trialled and are expected to become a commercial reality in the not-too-distant future.

The interest in the introduction of maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) has been growing at pace in recent years. At the international level, the Comité Maritime International (CMI) is producing work on legal aspects of MASS;1 in 2019 the IMO issued interim guidelines for trials of MASS;2 and in 2021 the IMO concluded a regulatory scoping exercise on relevant ship safety treaties to assess future regulation of MASS.3

As smart port development accelerates worldwide, cross-border data flows have become essential for enhancing operational efficiency, streamlining trade, and strengthening supply chain integration. However, escalating concerns over data ownership and security have led to increasingly stringent and divergent regulatory regimes across jurisdictions, resulting in a fragmented and often conflicting international legal landscape.

When is a contract not a contract?

An exclusive jurisdiction clause binds consignees