A goal-based international framework governing the design, operation and certification of autonomous surface ships took effect on July 1, 2026, giving uncrewed vessels a regulatory path to the same safety and environmental standards required of conventional ships. The rules arrive as the technology moves rapidly from trials into revenue-generating work.
In Norway, the Reach Remote 1 became the first vessel approved by both the Norwegian Maritime Authority and the UK’s MCA to operate entirely remotely without any support vessel, and it is now working an Equinor contract to inspect roughly 3,500 kilometers of subsea pipelines. A separate nine-meter uncrewed vessel completed a 500-nautical-mile unaccompanied voyage along the Norwegian coast from Trondheim to Mongstad. In defense circles, Blue Water Autonomy won a US Naval Oceanographic Office contract in August to map the Indian and Pacific Oceans using long-endurance uncrewed surface vessels.
Source: Marine Link — https://www.marinelink.com/amp/news/autonomy-offshore-uncrewed-systems-move-542080
