When is a Ship a Ship? Use by State Armed Forces of Un-crewed Maritime Vehicles and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Author: Simon McKenziePublished: 11/08/2020Category: External resourcesLast updated: 19/10/2022
This paper considers whether two of the basic classifications of this area of law–being categorised as a ‘ship’ or ‘vessel’ and being a ‘warship’–require people to be on board the vehicle and thus exclude UMVs.
Document Summary
Armed forces around the world are rapidly developing un-crewed maritime vehicles (UMVs) for use in military operations. Do these UMVs fit into the existing categories of the law of the sea set out in the in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)? This paper considers whether two of the basic classifications in this area of law require people to be on board the vehicle and thus exclude UMVs.