Abstract
The development of autonomous and unmanned ships raises complex questions as to how maritime law and admiralty jurisdiction apply to such vehicles. The fundamental issue whether an unmanned, remotely-operated underwater vehicle (“ROV”) is a “ship”, and thus allowed to be arrested in an admiralty action in rem, was recently considered by the Australian Federal Court in Guardian Offshore AU Pty Ltd v Saab Seaeye Leopard 1702 Remotely Operated Vehicle Lately on Board the Ship Offshore Guardian (The Seaeye Leopard).1 The court held that this particular ROV was not a ship for the purpose of the Admiralty Act 1988 (Cth) and set aside its arrest warrant.2
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 553-559 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly |
| Volume | 2020 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2020 |