The IMO MASS Regulatory Scoping Exercise – what have we learned?

In 2017 the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee took the historic step of adding the matter of maritime autonomous surface ships (“MASS”) to its 2018–2019 biennial agenda by embarking on a MASS Regulatory Scoping Exercise (“RSE”). At its 103rd meeting, held virtually in May 2021, the MSC approved the outcome of the RSE. This article considers what can be learned from the exercise, looking ahead to the necessary reform of the regulatory framework.

A framework for the RSE was agreed at MSC 100 in December 2018, the object of which was to assess the degree to which the existing framework of regulations within the MSC’s purview might be affected in order to address MASS operations. ¹