Autonomous vessels must follow rules

All vessels, regardless of whether they are autonomous or not, should comply with the COLREGs, said Captain Ghulam Hussain FNI, head of The Nautical Institute’s delegation to the IMO, as the debate into maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) started. The introduction of autonomous vessels is one of this year’s most hotly debated topics – but autonomous craft already exist, and the relationship between autonomous and non-autonomous vessels must be absolutely clear.