Lloyd's Shipping & Trade Law

In 2017 the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee took the historic step of adding the matter of maritime autonomous surface ships (“MASS”) to its 2018–2019 biennial agenda by embarking on a MASS Regulatory Scoping Exercise (“RSE”). At its 103rd meeting, held virtually in May 2021, the MSC approved the outcome of the RSE. This article considers what can be learned from the exercise, looking ahead to the necessary reform of the regulatory framework.

Two recent admiralty cases have highlighted unintended gaps in respect of default judgments in the Civil Procedure Rules and have prompted a rule change or resulted in a refinement in practice. The cases are Tecoil Shipping Ltd v Owners of the Ship “Poseidon” [2020] EWHC 393 (Admlty) and Premier Marinas Ltd v The Owner(s) of M/Y “Double Venus” AKA “Llamedos”, and the Owner(s) Of M/Y “Karma” AKA “Santorini” [2020] EWHC 2462 (Admlty).

Proceedings in rem and in personam