Towards autonomous inland waterway vessels — a comprehensive analysis of regulatory, liability and insurance frameworks

Abstract

The use of maritime autonomous vessels for the inland waterway (IWW) transport can revolutionise the current logistics supply chain and enable the shifting of the cargo transportation from the less efficient road and rail transport modes. However, the lack of guidelines and requirements for the operation and testing of autonomous vessels must be addressed to enable autonomous operations. This study aims to identify the gaps of the prevailing regulatory, liability and insurance frameworks and propose viable recommendations for the operation and testing of the autonomous IWW vessels. The theoretical case study of a next-generation autonomous ship operating in European IWW along with the required key enabling technologies is considered.