Considerations on assistance and rescue at sea in the light of the increasing autonomy in shipping

Abstract

The global search and rescue (SAR) system heavily relies on merchant cargo vessels for operations of assistance and rescue at sea. Conventionally, vessels proceeding to such operations have been ships with master and crew on board, at least to some extent capable of embarking and accommodating those rescued as well as providing humanitarian assistance thereto. With the introduction of ships capable of being remotely operated with no crew on board, the potential role of these vessels in the SAR system will have to be carefully appraised. In this regard, policymakers must observe that safety of life at sea is not compromised to the advantage of commercial benefits sought from the adoption of these vessels and ensure that the contribution of these vessels to SAR is maximised. This may require, in the remote operation context, a re-evaluation of the duty to assist and proceed to the rescue incumbent on conventional ships’ masters, both in terms of its scope and of those who may be charged with it. This paper points out that those operating unmanned vessels remotely may be obliged to discharge the duty, however the technical limitations of these vessels as well as the absence of humanitarian assistance on board due to unmanned operation would substantially delimit its scope. Therefore, the design and facilities of these ships must be carefully thought out to widen the scope of the duty and accordingly to maximise the contribution of these ships to the safety of life at sea.