Abstract
An important area of application of robotics technologies is unmanned water surface and underwater vehicles, such as in remote exploration work, maritime transportation, repairs of oil rigs and so on. This study evaluates the consequences of these technologies, particularly in a liability context. Taking into account the characteristics of vehicles mentioned above, especially autonomy, it is expected that development of these vehicles, and their increased use in the civil sector, is likely to require a new approach other than the well-established fault-based liability regime. Still, these autonomous vessels are not expected to require amendments to the basic tenets of maritime law as illustrated in, for instance, the 1972 IMO COLREGs Convention. In the light of contemporary applications, it is submitted that most unmanned water surface and underwater vehicles are becoming more and more autonomous, and they are closer to reasonable safety when compared to the ultra-hazardous activity of unmanned aerial vehicles. Safety being the keyword, this chapter argues that the liability regime that applies to unmanned marine vessels should not only conform to the technical characteristics of these vehicles but also balance the social interest in technological progress with the interest of general security and the freedom of commercial enterprise. Indeed, the liability regime to be applied to marine vessels should respond to similar needs with the regime to be applied to robots. A balanced and consistent liability regime is essential for the economic viability of maritime sectors, especially maritime transport, and the economic viability is a prerequisite for sustainability. Moreover, long-term sustainability concerns make it unreasonable to altogether refuse technological innovation, which has many advantages in terms of environmental protection and resource management. To that end, the present study focuses its analysis on the EU law.
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Notes
- 1.
This spectrum was formulated by the author, inspired by the example in p.11 of Chopra and White’s (2011) work.
- 2.
The first device that can be classified as AUV was developed in 1957 in the USA and named SPURV (Special Purpose Underwater Research Vehicle), designed to research in the Arctic waters (see Gafurov and Klochkov 2015).
- 3.
Council Directive 85/374/EEC of 25 July 1985 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning liability for defective products [1985] OJ L210/29.
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Ozturk, A. (2021). Lessons Learned from Robotics and AI in a Liability Context: A Sustainability Perspective. In: Carpenter, A., Johansson, T.M., Skinner, J.A. (eds) Sustainability in the Maritime Domain. Strategies for Sustainability. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69325-1_16
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