From a technical point of view, he forecast that a commercial transatlantic voyage by an autonomous bulk carrier will be possible by 2025 and he predicted that IMO will at least have guidelines in place by then to support such operations. These could set out exemptions to allow international voyages, he suggested; “we don’t [initially] need full regulations.”

A nine-page annex to the WG’s report detailed how the exercise will be carried out. It included a list of the conventions that would be affected – SOLAS (selected chapters), STCW, COLREG, CSC, LL, SAR, STP and Tonnage – and member states had been nominated to prepare an initial review for most of these by the time the WG submitted its report last week. It included a timeline that ends with it presenting its proposed approach to addressing the implications of MASS to MSC 102 in May 2020. Only after that can the actual work of updating the various instruments begin.