Enactment of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Promotion of Development and Commercialization of Autonomous Ships

 The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF; Minister Kang Do-hyung) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE; Minister Ahn Duk-geun) announced that the draft Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Promotion of Development and Commercialization of Autonomous Ships was passed at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, December 24 ahead of the enforcement of the Act on January 3, 2025.

 Autonomous ships are promising new industries that apply cutting-edge technologies such as AI to navigation systems to support the crew in making decisions and minimize human intervention. The global market is expected to be valued at USD 180.5 billion by 2032. Accordingly, the Act—which provides the legal foundation for comprehensive policies related to autonomous ships—was enacted in January of this year to secure a leading position in the future market through the development and commercialization of related core technologies.

 As the first law of its kind in the world, the Act was developed after a year of close collaboration between MOF and MOTIE. The Enforcement Decree, which specifies matters delegated by the law, includes detailed standards and procedures such as ▲establishment procedures and contents of a five-year basic plan for autonomous ships, ▲specific support measures for performance verification and training of professional personnel, ▲criteria and methods for evaluating projects such as maritime logistics system and R&D project and operation areas, ▲verification approval procedures, etc.

 Upon going into effect, the law is expected to open up opportunities for Korean shipping, shipbuilding companies, and R&D institutions to test and demonstrate various autonomous ship technologies by allowing special exceptions from related regulations such as the Ship Safety Act and Ship Officers Act, which are applied to general ships if a safety assessment is conducted within a separately designated operating area.

 The two ministries plan to move forward quickly with related procedures, starting with launching a policy committee (jointly chaired by the ministers of both ministries), subsequently establishing the basic plan, and providing demonstration support. They also plan to drive international standardization based on domestic technology development and demonstration results, including discussions on the International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s MASS (Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship) Code regulations. Furthermore, as there is potential for discussions on autonomous vessels during the Korea-US shipbuilding and shipping cooperation process, joint R&D and collaborative development in the shipbuilding and shipping industries will be explored, and international cooperation on autonomous ships with key countries such as the EU will be strengthened.