The maritime unmanned navigation and its liability regime: the need for a new regulatory approach
| Autor | Massimiliano Musi |
| Cargo del Autor | Senior Assistant Professor with tenure in Navigation Law Department of Sociology and Business Law Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna |
| Páginas | 201-236 |
THE MARITIME UNMANNED NAVIGATION
AND ITS LIABILITY REGIME: THE NEED
FOR A NEW REGULATORY APPROACH*
Massimiliano MUSI
Senior Assistant Professor with tenure in Navigation Law
Department of Sociology and Business Law
Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna
ABSTRACT: The maritime transport sector has been facing a season of strong changes
for some years now, dictated by a variety of factors, among which new technologies
undoubtedly take on a leading role. The introduction of autonomous navigation
systems, in particular, is helping to shift the focus from humans to machines for the
first time, although it is a process that is not immediate, but which requires medium
to long-term timing. In this sort of slow, but inexorable, Copernican revolution, the
limits of the current regulatory framework are already beginning to be seen, not only
at the national level, but also at the uniform international level, especially under the
profiles liability allocation models, which appear less capable of responding fully,
or at least satisfactorily, to the requests for protection of the various stakeholders.
Therefore, the need for a careful rethinking of the liability regime applicable in the
event of accidents involving the so-called «Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships» is
increasingly urgent. Such a reshaping should not have as its purpose, at least in this
phase, the complete supplanting of the liability system currently in force, but rather
its updating, which on the one hand takes into account the delicate and peculiar
balances that characterize the maritime transport market in all its aspects, and on
the other hand is suitable for fully regulating the rights and liabilities of the various
players involved. In this perspective, this paper offers some critical hints for reflec-
tion concerning the emerging weaknesses of the typically maritime liability regime,
based on fault, and suggests some possible solutions, through the use of the systems
of strict liability and of liability for defective product.
Keywords: maritime autonomous surface ships; MASS; unmanned navigation; fault-
based liability; strict liability; product liability.
* The present study has been carried out in the framework of the research project «Transport faced
with the challenges of technological development and globalization: new solutions as regards liability
and competition» (Ref. PID2019-107204GB-C33), financed by MCIN/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033/.
202 MASSIMILIANO MUSI
LA NAVEGACIÓN MARÍTIMA NO TRIPULADA
Y SU RÉGIMEN DE RESPONSABILIDAD: LA
NECESIDAD DE UN NUEVO ENFOQUE NORMATIVO
RESUMEN: El sector del transporte marítimo está experimentando fuertes cambios
en los últimos años, debidos a distintos factores, entre los que las nuevas tecno-
logías ocupan, sin duda, un papel destacado. La introducción de los sistemas de
navegación autónoma, en particular, está contribuyendo a desplazar por primera
vez el foco de atención de los humanos a las máquinas, aunque se trata de un
proceso que no es inmediato, sino que se desarrolla a medio y largo plazo. En esta
especie de revolución copernicana, lenta pero inexorable, ya se empiezan a ver los
límites del actual marco normativo, no sólo a nivel nacional, sino también a nivel
internacional uniforme, sobre todo en lo que respecta a los sistemas de imputación
de responsabilidad, que parecen menos capaces de responder plenamente, o al
menos satisfactoriamente, a la necesidad de protección de los sujetos interesados.
En consecuencia, la necesidad de un cuidadoso replanteamiento del régimen de
responsabilidad aplicable en caso de accidentes de los llamados «buques marítimos
autónomos de superficie» es cada vez más urgente. Dicha reforma no debe tener
como finalidad, al menos en esta fase, la completa modificación del sistema de
responsabilidad actualmente vigente, sino su actualización, que por un lado tenga
en cuenta los delicados y peculiares equilibrios que caracterizan al mercado de
transporte marítimo en todas sus vertientes, y por otro sea adecuada para regular
plenamente los derechos y responsabilidades de los distintos sujetos implicados.
Desde esta perspectiva, el presente trabajo ofrece algunas pautas para la reflexión
sobre las debilidades emergentes del régimen de responsabilidad marítima, típica-
mente basado en la culpa, y sugiere algunas posibles soluciones, a través del uso
de los sistemas de responsabilidad objetiva y de responsabilidad por productos
defectuosos.
Palabras clave: buques marítimos autónomos de superficie; MASS; navegación no tri-
pulada; responsabilidad por culpa; responsabilidad objetiva; responsabilidad por
productos defectuosos.
INDEX: I. INTRODUCTION.—II. THE DILEMMA OF THE CHOICE OF THE REGULATORY AP-
PROACH: THE SEARCH FOR A BALANCE BETWEEN REGULATION AND TECHNOLOGY.—
III. THE REASONS BEHIND THE EVALUATION OF OPPORTUNITY OF A POSSIBLE STEP
BEYOND THE CURRENT FAULT-BASED LIABILITY REGIME.—IV. PROPOSALS FOR ALTER-
NATIVE LIABILITY REGIMES TO THE ORDINARY FAULT-BASED ONE: 1. Towards a System
to Channel the Liability, as a Consequence of the Scope of Application of the Limitation Regime:
Some Food for Thought. 1.2. Leeway for Product Liability in Unmanned Navigation.—V. CON-
CLUDING REMARKS DE LEGE FERENDA.—VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
I. INTRODUCTION
Maritime law is perhaps the most stable of all branches of law, having main-
tained, as it is refractory to time passing, almost unchanged over the centuries
THE MARITIME UNMANNED NAVIGATION AND ITS LIABILITY REGIME: THE NEED... 203
many of the institutes and figures that most characterize it, such as general aver-
age, salvage, limitation of the liability of the shipowner, the charterparty, the bill
of lading, the role of the master and the crew, notwithstanding a reality pervaded,
with a greater acceleration in recent decades, by incessant changes in all areas
of economy, science, politics and society. Now more than ever, in a new season,
with peculiar and unprecedented features, in which the continuous advances of
technology are revolutionizing the world of sea transport and the galaxy of reali-
ties connected to it in varying degrees, the law makers, to allow maritime law to
keep up with the times and to maintain its prodigious and far-sighted regulatory
effectiveness, often internationally uniform, are called upon to resort to a skillful
balance between flexibility and rigidity1.
This approach is all the more necessary in relation to the phenomenon
of the so-called «unmanned vehicles» (or «UVs»)2, which are acquiring an
increasingly important role in the various modes of transport and include
«unmanned aerial vehicles» (or «UAVs»)3, «unmanned ground vehicles» (or
1 On the need of a rethinking of the so called lex maritima, see also E. Van HooydonK, «Towards
a Worldwide Restatement of the General Principles of Maritime Law», The Journal of International
Maritime Law, No.20, 2014, p.170.
2 Amplius on unmanned vehicles as a whole, see, among the foreign doctrine: B.GoGarTy and
m.HaGGer, «The Laws of Man over Vehicles Unmanned: the Legal Response to Robotic Revolution
on Sea, Land and Air», JSciLaw, No.19, 2008, pp. 73-145; J. daVis, «The (Common) Laws of Man
Over Vehicles Unmanned», JSciLaw, No.21, 2011, pp.1-15; B. GoGarTy and i. robinson, «Unmanned
Vehicles: a (Rebooted) History, Background and Current State of the Art», JSciLaw, No. 21, 2012,
pp.1-34; G.HalleVy, «Unmanned Vehicles: Subordination to Criminal Law under the Modern Con-
cept of Criminal Liability. Comment», JSciLaw, No.1, 2012, pp.200-214; S.Hörl, F.ciari and K.w.
aXHausen, Recent Perspectives on the Impact of Autonomous Vehicles, Zurich, Institute for Transport
Planning and Systems, 2016.
3 For a deepening on the matter, among the copious literature on unmanned aerial vehicles see,
for the Italian doctrine: U. la Torre, «Gli UAV: mezzi aerei senza pilota», in R. TranQuilli-leali and
E.G. ros aFio (eds.), Sicurezza, navigazione e trasporto, Milano, Giuffrè Editore, 2008, p.103 ff.;
A.masuTTi, «Proposals for the Regulation of Unmanned Air Vehicle Use in Common Airspace», Air
& Space Law, No.34, 2009, pp.1-12; B. FrancHi, «Aeromobili senza pilota (UAV): inquadramento
giuridico e profili di responsabilità», Resp.civ. prev., Vol.6, 2010, pp.732-751 and pp.1213-1232;
U. la Torre, «I nuovi veicoli volanti», Riv. dir. nav., 2010, pp.553-573; U. la Torre, «La navigazio-
ne degli UAV: un’occasione di riflessione sull’art.965 c. nav. in tema di danni a terzi sulla superficie»,
Riv. dir. nav., 2012, pp.553-575; E. G. rosaFio, «Considerazioni sui mezzi aerei a pilotaggio remo-
to e sul regolamento ENAC», Riv. dir. nav., 2014, pp.787-805; A. L. M. sia, «Profili attuali della
disciplina giuridica dei mezzi aerei a pilotaggio remoto e il regolamento dell’Ente Nazionale dell’A-
viazione Civile italiana (ENAC)», Riv. dir. trasp., Vol. 27, No.3, 2014, pp.743-774; S. zunarelli
and m. m. comenale P inTo, Manuale di diritto della navigazione e dei trasporti, Milano, CEDAM,
2020, pp.63-64. For the foreign doctrine, see: M. T. deGarmo, Issues Concerning Integration of
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Civil Airspace, McLean (Virginia), The Mite Corporation, 2004; V.
TasiKas, «Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and the Doctrine of Hot Pursuit: a New Era of Coast Guard Mar-
itime Law Enforcement Operations», Tul. Mar. L. J., No.29, 2004, pp.59-80; S. A. Kaiser, «Legal
Aspects of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles», Zeitschrift für Luft- und Weltraumrecht. German Journal of
Air and Space Law, No.55, 2006, p.344 ff.; s.a. Kaiser, «Third-Party Liability of Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles», Zeitschrift für Luft- und Weltraumrecht. German Journal of Air and Space Law, No.57,
2008, p.229 ff.; d. marsHall, «Unmanned Aerial Systems and International Civil Aviation Orga-
nization Regulations», North Dakota Law Review, No.85, 2009, pp.693-713; T. m. raVicH, «The
Integration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles into the National Airspace», North Dakota Law Review,
No.85, 2009, pp.597-622; i. He nderson, «International Law Concerning the Status and Making of
Remotely Piloted Aircraft», Denv. J. Int’l L. Policy, No.39, 2011, pp.615-628; S. A. Kaiser, «UAVs
and Their Integration into Non-segregated Airspace», Air & Space Law, No.36, 2011, pp.161-172;
B. KaPni K, «Unmanned but Accelerating: Navigating the Regulatory and Privacy Challenges of In-
troducing Unmanned Aircraft into the National Airspace System», J. Air Law Comm, No.77, 2012,
Para continuar leyendo
Solicita tu prueba