The Implications of Artificial Intelligence and Related Emerging Technologies on Ship Operations: Civil Liability and Insurance Considerations

Abstract

Recent advances in computer science have driven rapid progress in artificial intelligence. In parallel, the growing opinion that these technologies can replicate, or even improve, human decision-making has prompted a race to integrate them into shipping systems. Artificial intelligence has the potential not only to reduce accidents but also to lower the overall cost of transporting goods and passengers globally. This evolving integration inevitably raises significant questions for liability and insurance law. As emerging technologies are designed to supplement or even replace human-centric decision-making in shipping, it is essential to assess whether the existing civil liability and insurance framework is fit for purpose and whether legal change is required to accommodate them. This thesis first explains the core elements of artificial intelligence technology to provide the technical foundation for our legal analysis. It then evaluates, first, producers’ liability and, subsequently, the traditional tort and contractual liabilities of shipping actors, demonstrating how key doctrines in the law of England and Wales, particularly duty of care, standards of seamanship, and seaworthiness, may need to be re-assessed as operational control shifts from crews to remote operators (in case ships go uncrewed) or, even to intangible products and their producers. Turning to risk allocation, it argues that traditional property and liability insurance models are unlikely to remain adequate during this transition and must evolve to recognise cyber-physical assets and risks arising from algorithmic malfunction or malicious cyber manipulation. Building on these analyses, the thesis proposes a new liability and insurance paradigm structured to preserve adequate compensation and incentives for safety while enabling this transition.