The International Maritime Organization has for the first time faced the topic of the independent ships



The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the organism of the United Nations that takes care to define the international standards for the field of the marine transport, for safety of navigation and in order to prevent the pollution provoked from the ships, has for the first time faced the topic of the independent ships, unit to remote control and without crew on which in recent months it is more and more concentrating the attention of companies and agencies that take care of the planning and the development of systems and innovative solutions of marine transport.

Today, to conclusion of novantanovesima the session of Maritime the Safety Committe (MSC), the technical organism of the IMO that has met this week to London, is approved of a picture for the study of an appropriate regulation, included a preliminary definition of Maritime the Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) - as they are defined the ships that, in different measure, can operate independently from the human interaction - and of the various degrees of autonomy of these ships, let alone a methodology in order to carry out this activity and a work programme.

Al fine to facilitate the job for the definition of a specific regulation the various degrees of autonomy of the ships, list have been organized that is not compiled hierarchically and that it includes four degrees of autonomy: ship with automated processes and decisional support (the marine ones are anticipate on board in order to manage and to control the systems and the functions of edge. Some operations could be automated); remote ship controlled from with marine on board (the ship is controlled and operated by another resort, but the marine ones are anticipate on board); remote ship controlled from without marine on board (the ship is controlled and operated from another resort and not there is crew on board); completely independent ship (the operating system of the ship is able to assume decisions and to realize actions).

Maritime the Safety Committe has established that the first step will be that to agree a list of the current dispositions of the IMO and to estimate if they could or less being applicable to ships with various degrees of autonomy or if could hinder the activity of the independent ships. Successively an analysis will be lead in order to determine in more appropriate way as facing the operativity of unit MASS, considering of the human element, the technologies and the operating factors among other things.

Moreover the MSC has instituted a working group on units MASS whom it will begin to analyze these first topics, that in particular methodological one, and that it will introduce a report of own job in the course of the next Maritime session of the Safety Committee that will meet from the 3 on 7 December next ones. The technical Committee of the IMO has invited also the Member States and the international organizations interested to introduce to the hundredth session of Decembers proposed for the development of lines guide temporary in order to experience the operativity of the independent ships.