Article Sidebar
Issue:
Vol. 2 No. 1 (2026)
Section:
Research articles
DOI:
10.65154/ijmst.14
Date Published:
30/03/2026
Views
36
Downloads
41
How to Cite
Nguyen, V. T., Nguyen, X. L., Vu, D. T., & Hong, H. H. T. (2026). Legal Challenges of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships: A Comparative Study of Neighboring States and Implications for Vietnam. International Journal of Marine Science and Technology, 2(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.65154/ijmst.14
Citation format:
Legal Challenges of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships: A Comparative Study of Neighboring States and Implications for Vietnam
Main Article Content
Abstract
International Maritime Organization and countries have been paying special attention to Maritime Autonomous Surface Vessels (MASS). MASS is assessed to be able to bring benefits to the world maritime industry, but it also raises legal issues that need to be further studied and improved. Countries in the region have many activities related to MASS, typically issuing MASS standards, building MASS test sea areas, smart ports, sandboxes, etc. This study analyzes and evaluates in detail the policies, strategies and regulations of some typical countries in the region on MASS. In addition, the article also analyzes and synthesizes the current regulations of international conventions, whether or not they are suitable for MASS. From that analysis, the article presents experiences for Vietnam as well as other countries in the region to shorten the time to build and improve regulations for MASS. Develop action strategies for the construction, testing and development of MASS in practice. At the same time, the article also emphasizes the need to further strengthen regional cooperation in the ASEAN region.
Keywords
Legal framework, maritime autonomous surface ships, maritime law, MASS policy
Article Details
References
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[3] International Maritime Organization, “Autonomous shipping,” 2021.
[4] American Bureau of Shipping, “Advisory on autonomous functionality,” Advisory, 2020.
[5] I. Kurt and M. Aymelek, “Operational and economic advantages of autonomous ships and their perceived impacts on port operations,” Maritime Economics & Logistics, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 302–326, 2022.
[6] International Maritime Organization, “Autonomous ships: Regulatory scoping exercise completed,” 2021.
[7] International Maritime Organization, “Outcome of the regulatory scoping exercise for the use of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) (MSC.1/Circ.1638),” 2021.
[8] International Maritime Organization, “Maritime safety committee – 108th session (2024),” 2024.
[9] United Nations, “United nations convention on the law of the sea (UNCLOS),” 1982.
[10] D. M. Coello, “Is UNCLOS ready for the era of seafaring autonomous vessels? ” Journal of Territorial and Maritime Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 21–37, 2023.
[11] International Maritime Organization, “Convention on the international regulations for preventing collisions at sea (COLREG),” 1972.
[12] H. Ringbom, E. Røsæg, and T. Solvang (Eds.), Autonomous Ships and the Law 1st Edition, Routledge, 2020.
[13] International Maritime Organization, “International convention on standards of training, certification and watchkeeping for seafarers (STCW),” 1978.
[14] International Maritime Organization, “International convention for the safety of life at sea (SOLAS), Consolidated Edition,” 1974.
[15] International Maritime Organization, “International convention for the prevention of pollution from ships (MARPOL) [As amended 1978],” 1973.
[16] R. García-Llave, F. H. Echeverry Andrade, and D. J. Coronil Huertas, “Autonomous ships and flag state: Challenges and opportunities in international maritime law,” Journal of Transportation Security, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 15, 2025.
[17] L. Carey, “Contractual and tortious maritime liability regimes and the introduction of autonomous vessels,” NUS Law Working Paper No. 2023/012, Centre for Maritime Law, National University of Singapore, 2023.
[18] E. Szewczyk, “Tortious liability for collisions involving uncrewed and autonomous marine surface ships in English law and the resulting implications for protection and indemnity insurance cover,” Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University, 2024.
[19] C. H. Chang et al., “COLREG and MASS: Analytical review to identify research trends and gaps in the development of autonomous collision avoidance,” Ocean Engineering, vol. 302, pp. 117652, 2024.
[20] L. Chen, “Maritime rights, obligations, and liabilities of intelligent ships from the perspective of risk distribution,” Journal of International Maritime Safety, Environmental Affairs, and Shipping, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 2264566, 2023.
[21] J. Kim and S. Park, “Potential liability issues of AI-based embedded software in maritime autonomous surface ships,” Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 498, 2022.
[22] B. Soyer and A. Tettenborn, Eds., Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Shipping: Developing the International Legal Framework, Hart Publishing, 2021.
[23] M. Mesiya Peter and M. Ma, “Tortious liability for autonomous marine vehicle collisions: A suggestive move from fault-based to strict liability,” Ocean & Coastal Management, vol. 269, pp. 107781, 2025.
[24] S. Hasan, “Regulating maritime autonomous surface ships: Recent developments and challenges,” Ocean Yearb. Online, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 330–349, 2025.
[25] T. Porathe, J. Prison, and Y. Man, “Situation awareness in remote control centres for unmanned ships,” Proceedings of Human Factors in Ship Design & Operation, pp. 93–101, 2014.
[26] M. A. Ramos et al., “Human-system concurrent task analysis for maritime autonomous surface ship operation and safety,” Reliability Engineering and System Safety, vol. 195, pp. 106697, 2020.
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[28] NYK Line, “NYK conducts world’s first international demonstration test of a fully autonomous ship,” 2025.
[29] Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, “Flag, coastal and port authorities from eight countries come together to encourage development of maritime autonomous surface ships,” 2020.
[30] State Council, “Reply of the state council on the 14th five-year plan for marine economy development,” 2021.
[31] Ministry of Transport and six other ministries, “Guiding opinions on the development of smart shipping,” 2019.
[32] Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Transport, and State Administration for Science, Technology and National Defense Industry, “Action plan for the development of intelligent ships (2019–2021)”, 2019.
[33] Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, “Guidelines for the development of the smart ship standards system,” 2019.
[34] China Maritime Safety Administration, “Provisional rules for the technical testing and inspection of autonomous ships,” 2023.
[35] China Classification Society, “Smart ship code 2015,” 2015.
[36] China Classification Society, “Guidelines for unmanned surface vessels inspection,” 2018.
[37] China Classification Society, “Guidelines for autonomous cargo ships,” 2018.
[38] China Classification Society, “Guidelines for ship network system requirements and safety assessment,” 2020.
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[47] Korea Autonomous Surface Ship Project, “Development of autonomous navigation system with intelligent route planning function,” 2020.
[48] Korea Autonomous Surface Ship Project, “Technology,” 2020.
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[52] D. H. Ko, “Korea’s autonomous ship sails to Southeast Asia for test,” The Korea Times, 2024.
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[54] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, “Formulation of safety guidelines toward the practical implementation of autonomous ships: Further promoting the development and commercial deployment of autonomous ships by operators,” Government of Japan, 2022.
[55] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, “Maritime: Autonomous ship study group,” Government of Japan, 2025.
[56] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, “Efforts toward the practical implementation of autonomous ships,” Government of Japan, 2018.
[57] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, “Safety guidelines for maritime autonomous surface ships,” Government of Japan, 2022.
[58] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, “Trends in international regulations related to maritime autonomous surface ships,” Government of Japan, 2025.
[59] NYK Line, “Documentary of fully autonomous ship project released,” NYK Line English News, 2022.
[60] NYK Line, “Fleet operation center completed for crewless maritime autonomous surface ship project,” NYK Line English News, 2021.
[61] The Nippon Foundation, “The Nippon foundation MEGURI2040 Fully autonomous ship program,” 2020.
[62] Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, “Automobile carrier equipped with marine DX equipment begins operations,” NYK Line, 2025.
[63] Maritime Activity Reports, Inc., “Autonomous containership trialed in Japan,” MarineLink, 2022.
[64] Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, “Flag, coastal and port authorities from eight countries come together to encourage development of maritime autonomous surface ships,” 2020.
[65] Vietnam Maritime and Waterway Administration, “Vietnam maritime administration chaired the 42nd ASEAN maritime transport working group meeting,” 2022.
[66] Ministry of Construction, “No.3692/BXD-PC: On the detailed plan for drafting the Vietnamese maritime code,” Hanoi, Vietnam, 2025.
[67] Vietnam Maritime and Waterway Administration, “No.154/QD-CHHDTVN: Decision on the restructuring of review, research, and policy/project dossier preparation teams for the Vietnamese Maritime and Inland Waterways Code,” Hanoi, Vietnam, 2026.