Maritime Autonomous Vehicles and International Law

Maritime autonomous vehicles (MAVs) have the potential to radically alter all uses of maritime space, with technology progressing faster than the law. This book explores the current international legal framework and the options available to regulate maritime security in the face of emerging technologies.

MAVs are starting to play a role not only in policing and military security but also for the perpetration of maritime crimes. Through discussing the existing international legal framework for combating maritime security threats, the book will consider the use of MAVs by states for various security purposes and the potential dangers of MAVs in the hands of non-state actors. As the intersection of maritime technology with international maritime security law is crucial to a safe future for all, this timely book makes essential suggestions to adapt existing legal frameworks to match emerging technologies. Addressing critical questions such as who exercises jurisdiction when ships are remotely controlled, how jamming technology may be lawfully deployed and what force may be permissible during maritime law enforcement, this book identifies a diversity of current legal gaps and problems and makes suggestions as to how to rectify them.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars in the field of the law of the sea, maritime security and emerging technologies.

Natalie Klein is Professor and Associate Dean (Academic) at UNSW Sydney’s Faculty of Law & Justice, Australia. She is currently President of the Australian Branch of the International Law Association and one of Australia’s nominees under Annex V and Annex VII of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Her masters and doctorate in law were earned at Yale Law School, and she is Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

Douglas Guilfoyle is Professor of International Law and Security at UNSW Canberra. His principal areas of research are the international law of the sea and international and transnational criminal law. Particular areas of specialism include maritime law enforcement, the law of naval warfare, international courts and tribunals and the history of international law. He is a 2022-2025 Australian Research Council Future Fellow. He was previously Professor of Law at Monash University and Reader in Law at the University College London. He was a Gates Cambridge Trust scholar and Chevening scholar during his graduate study at the University of Cambridge.

Md Saiful Karim is Professor in the School of Law and Justice at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ). Professor Karim was McDougall Visiting Professor in International Law at West Virginia University. He was a consultant at the University of the South Pacific and a visiting research fellow at the National University of Singapore. He teaches and researches in various areas of ocean, human rights and environmental law. He has published extensively in the fields of ocean and environmental law and has presented research papers at several conferences and workshops in Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania.

Rob McLaughlin is Professor of Law at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security at the University of Wollongong, Honorary Professor at the Australian National University College of Law and Fellow of the Stockton Centre for International Law at the US Naval War College. Rob came to academia after a career in the Royal Australian Navy as a seaman officer and a legal officer.