자율운항선박의 도래와 그 법적 쟁점

Abstract

The autonomous vessel will appear within few years. All laws and rules are based on the fact that the crews are on board the vessel. Therefore, changes in the rules under the current laws are inevitable under the autonomous vessel. The autonomous vessel are developing with 4 steps. In the third step, the vessel can be controlled by the shore based controller. However, there is no way for the vessel to be controlled by the man in the fourth step. Under the autonomous vessel, the duty of the master of staying on board, minimum crew on board rule, the duty of the lookout of watch keeping officer should be deleted. However, the carrier's liability for compensating damages and the shipowner's vicarious liability based on the crew's tort will stay intact. The servant and agent substitute with AI and controller at shore. New provisions which make them as the servant and agent are required. The big changes are expected in the area of charter parties. Under the 4th stage, the vessel with AI and programs is delivered to the charterer. Therefore, there is no need for the charterer to provide its own crew. As a result, the charterer will not be responsible for collision liability, which is different from current rules. The change of Article 850 is inevitable. Action in rem is recommended to be adopted under the 4th stage of the autonomous vessel because the vessel becomes very much sophisticated and the finding out of legal ground for imposing liability is not easy. The claims which trigger action in rem will be expanded and serve for protecting third party involved in the autonomous vessel area. The ship management company will be prosperous because shore based control system is needed in the third stage and more sophisticated data collected by ship operation is required in depth and effectively.