Maritime Autonomous Vehicles and International Law

Natalie Klein is a 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 a 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 a Professor of Law at Monash University, Reader in Law at 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 a Professor in the School of Law at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Professor Karim was the 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 a 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.

Part I: Overarching Issues

1. Maritime Autonomous Vehicles: Challenges and Opportunities under International Law

2. Integrating Maritime Autonomous Vehicles into National Maritime Security Architecture

3. MASS, UNCLOS and the Flag State

Part II: Military Concerns, Military Activities and Navigational Rights

4. Sovereign Immunity of Unmanned Maritime Vehicles

5. Maritime Drones at War: Legal Issues Affecting Characterization and Use

6. The Future of Ocean Technology and Navigational Rights in the International Law of the Sea

7. Some Rules Applicable to Use of Long Range Underwater Maritime Autonomous Vehicles for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Purposes

8. The Legality of Electromagnetic Interference with Maritime Autonomous Vehicles

Part III: Responding to Illegal Activities at Sea

9. Maritime Law Enforcement in the Era of Autonomous Ships: Use of Force and Safeguards

10. Piracy and Maritime Terrorism Involving Autonomous Ships

11. Legal Implications for Maritime Autonomous Vehicles in Relation to Stowaways

12. The Use of Maritime Autonomous Vehicles in Fisheries Law Enforcement

Part IV: MAVs and New Frontiers in International Maritime Security Law

13. Environmental and Maritime Security, Civil Liability Regimes, and Maritime Autonomous Vehicles

14. Maritime Autonomous Vehicles in Polar Waters: Opportunities, Risks and Governance Implications