Involvement in the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO)

IMO work on autonomous ships: During the past five years, autonomous ships have become the main regulatory project of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN specialised agency in the field of shipping. The IMO has first conducted a Regulatory Scoping Exercise (RSE), in which the continued applicability and relevance of more than 40 IMO treaties has been assessed in light of autonomous ships. After its successful completion, the work on a potential Code for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (IMO MASS Code) have been taken up, which is currently ongoing.

Involvement: I am closely involved in IMOs work on MASS since it started in 2019; namely in the following capacities:

• Member of delegations to the IMO Legal Committee: LEG 106: Legal Committee, 106^th Session, 27‒29 March 2019, IMO Headquarters, member of the Swiss Delegation; LEG 107: Legal Committee, 107^th Session, 27‒30 November 2020, online, member of the Comité Maritime International Delegation; LEG 108: Legal Committee, 108^th Session, 26‒30 July 2021, online, member of the Comité Maritime International Delegation.
• Regulatory Scoping Exercise (RSE) for the four SUA treaties: Within the Legal Committee, volunteering States conducted the RSE for one or more treaties. On behalf of Switzerland, I assisted the United States in conducting the RSE for the four SUA treaties, which pertain to maritime security. This entailed considering each provision of the treaty under the angle of autonomous ships by distinguishing four levels of autonomy. Moreover, a recommendation on the way forward (interpretation, amendment, new rule, none of these) had to be made for each treaty. The results of this analysis were discussed at LEG 108.
• Member of the Working Group on Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships: During LEG 106 and LEG 107, a Working Group on Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships was established, of which I was a member.
• Member of the Joint MSC-LEG-FAL Working Group on Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships: On behalf of the Comité Maritime International, I am contributing to the ongoing work of this group (e.g., participation in the meeting from 7‒9 September 2023).