Categorization of unmanned ship collision liability under dual-track analysis framework

Abstract

This paper focuses on the coordination of unmanned ship technology and legal doctrine. Based on the traditional theory of tort and liability, this paper tries to analyze how to regulate unmanned ship collision liability by combining the impact and challenges of unmanned ships on the tort theory of ship collision. The analysis delves into the two major attributes of unmanned ships: ship attribute and artificial intelligence attribute. On this basis, there is the viewpoint of this paper: we should impartially consider both the ship attribute and the artificial intelligence attribute when constructing the collision liability system for unmanned ships. As results, it is recommended that the traditional liability for ship collision shall still be applicable to unmanned ship collision liability due to the nature of ships, but additional types of liabilities are demanded due to the artificial intelligence attribute so as to avoid the biased application of rules. Moreover, these types of liabilities are not directly applicable, which means the rules need to be reformed appropriately. This paper finally gives the conclusion that the tort liability for unmanned ship collision shall be categorized as “product liability + tort liability for traditional ship collision” by integrating the influence of the two attributes.