The Vagueness of COLREG versus Collision Avoidance Techniques—A Discussion on the Current State and Future Challenges Concerning the Operation of Autonomous Ships

Krzysztof Wróbel, Mateusz Gil, Yamin Huang () and Ryszard Wawruch
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Krzysztof Wróbel: Research Group on Maritime Transportation Risk and Safety, Faculty of Navigation, Gdynia Maritime University, 81-345 Gdynia, Poland
Mateusz Gil: Research Group on Maritime Transportation Risk and Safety, Faculty of Navigation, Gdynia Maritime University, 81-345 Gdynia, Poland
Yamin Huang: Intelligent Transportation Systems Research Centre, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430063, China
Ryszard Wawruch: Department of Navigation, Faculty of Navigation, Gdynia Maritime University, 81-345 Gdynia, Poland

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-20

Abstract: With the development of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS), considerable research is undertaken to secure their safety. One of the critical aspects of MASS is collision avoidance, and multiple collision avoidance algorithms have been developed. However, due to various reasons, collision avoidance of autonomous merchant vessels appears to be far from resolved. With this study, we aim to discuss the current state of Collision Avoidance Methods (CAMs) and the challenges lying ahead—from a joint academic and practical point of view. To this end, the key Rules from International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREG) have been reviewed with a focus on their practical application for MASS. Moreover, the consideration of the COLREG Rules in contemporary collision avoidance algorithms has been reviewed. The ultimate objective is to identify aspects of COLREG requiring additional attention concerning MASS developments in terms of collision avoidance. Our conclusions indicate that although a lot of progress has been achieved recently, the feasibility of CAMs for MASS remains questionable. Reasons for so are the ambiguous character of the regulations, especially COLREG, as well as virtually all existing CAMs being at best only partly COLREG-compliant.

Keywords: Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS); Collision Avoidance Methods (CAMs); COLREG; maritime practice; maritime transportation safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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