Do We Know Enough About the Concept of Unmanned Ship?

The main objective of this paper is to widen and deepen the scope of discussion related to the concept of autonomous and tele-operated ships. It is not quite clear, whether all relevant arguments and issues within this field are already identified, discussed and well understood. The impacts of such new technology on all stakeholders must be taken into account, in the phases of design, building, operation, maintenance, re-pair and scrapping. Driving forces, motivations and goals in the background, as well as all identified hazards, risks, policies and limitations need to be brought into open discussion. In the maritime sector the pace of propagation of some new technological developments may sometimes be felt to be too slow by the developers in their race to the market. However, the ability of the regulators to communicate with all stakeholders must be confirmed. The gradual, slow process of growth of a common and sufficient understanding of the proposed change of technology and of its all relevant features is in crucial role. Thinking slow is sometimes more bene-ficial than haste, if a justifiable, reasonable, sound and safe future of the society and its transportations must be confirmed. A set of controversies and problems related to the concept of unmanned ship are presented here and discussed with the hope of further discussion and contribution to a safer future.