IMO Seminar on Development of a Regulatory Framework for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS)

Anne Miettinen works as a Senior Ministerial Adviser in the Automation Unit of the Ministry of Transport and Communications Finland. Her duties include maritime and logistics automation and digitalization, particularly strategic development including regulation. She is the Head of Delegation of Finland in the IMO Facilitation Committee. She participates in the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) and IMO Legal Committee (LEG) work on Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) issues. She is a national delegate in the European Commission´s High Level Steering Group of the Digital Maritime Systems and Services (HLSG) and its MASS expert group. She also participates in the SSPorts cooperation network and IALA MASS task force. She has worked in research, forecast and evaluation coordination activities as well as open data activities both in the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Prime Minister’s Office of Finland.

Khanssa Lagdami is an Assistant Professor at the World Maritime University. She holds an ITF Seafarers Trust Chair and teaches Maritime Labour Law and Policy. Lagdami has over 15 years of experience in the maritime sector. Her strengths lie in maritime labor law, the future of work, and maritime security. She is currently involved in significant research projects on social aspects in the maritime sector. In addition, Dr. Lagdami is leading an EU project related to port security in West and Central Africa. Dr. Lagdami is also engaged in enhancing maritime interests across the Middle East and North Africa.

Ann Till is the Chief Vessel Operator based in Southampton for Ocean Infinity. Ocean Infinity have 23 MASS vessels between 21-85m under construction as well operating a fleet of 8 survey USVs. Ann is a Master Mariner and Chartered Marine Technologist and responsible for the remote operation of Ocean Infinity’s fleet.

Sam Mayall is the CEO and founder of Zelim. Zelim is a start up company focused on the use of unmanned rescue vessels in the global offshore energy and shipping industries. Zelim are currently building the world first unmanned fast rescue craft. 

Shepard Smith is the Chief Technology Officer for XOCEAN, which builds and operates a fleet of 20 survey USVs serving the offshore wind and hydrographic industries. Previously a career hydrographer with NOAA in the U.S., he served as the US National Hydrographer and representative to the IHO.

James Hopper is Business Development Manager for SEA-KIT Intl, which is a British SME providing hi-tech, USV (un-crewed surface vessel) solutions to the maritime and research industries for deployment in harsh offshore environments.

Nick Simmons is Fugro's European Director USV & Remote Operations, responsible for operating a fleet of up to 6 USVs by end 2023. Based in the UK, Nick has worked on and operated a range of vessels in the maritime survey sector for many years.  His entrepreneurial approach and passion for combining technology and people is helping Fugro drive forwards to a carbon.

Wu Sun is currently Chairman of IACS Expert Group on MASS, he is also a CCS member of the IACS Cyber System Panel. Since 1988, he has been working in the China Classification Society (CCS). He is currently Director of Intelligent Technology Department of CCS Shanghai Rules and Technology Center. Now his research areas include regulations and rules for autonomous ships, cyber security, digitalization, etc. 

Hideyuki Ando is director of MTI Co. Ltd., R&D arm of NYK Line. Since he joined MTI in 2005, he has led many R&D projects regarding the safety and energy efficiency of NYK fleet operations. He has been chairman of the Smart Ship Application Platform (SSAP) Project of JSMEA (Japan Ship Machinery and Equipment Association) since 2012 and has led ISO standardization activities relating to ship IoT. Since 2016, he has led autonomous ship development and demonstration projects, including sub-director of the Designing the Future of Full Autonomous Ship (DFFAS) project from 2020 to 2022. Prior to his current position at MTI, he was an associate professor at the University of Tokyo. He was honored with the Best Youth Award JASNAOE (Japan Society of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering) in 2003. He holds a Doctor of Engineering. 

Zaili Yang is Professor of Maritime Transport and Co-Director of Liverpool, Logistics, Offshore and Marine Research Institute at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), UK. He received his BEng in Maritime Transportation from Dalian Maritime University, China, in 2001, MSc in International Transport from Cardiff University, UK, in 2003, and PhD in Maritime Safety from LJMU, UK, in 2006. Prof. Yang’s research interests are analysis and modelling of safety, resilience and sustainability of transport networks, particularly maritime systems. His research findings have been published in over 300 refereed papers in risk and transport areas, including 150 long journal papers. He has received 14 paper awards (e.g., IMechE Journal Part M) and 4 research awards (e.g., Northeast Asia Logistics Award 2018). 

Aldo Chircop, JSD, is Professor of Law and former Canada Research Chair in Maritime Law and Policy (Tier I). Based at the Marine and Environmental Law Institute, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, his fields of research and teaching are Canadian maritime law, international maritime law and the law of the sea. He is currently working on the regulation of Artic shipping, decarbonization, MASS and area-based management in shipping. He is the current chair of the CMI International Working Group on Polar Shipping. Professor Chircop has advised several governments, international organizations, law firms, non-governmental organizations, and community organizations. He has published extensively and is co-editor of the Ocean Yearbook (Brill). Professor Chircop is a member of the Nova Scotia Barristers Society and the Canadian Maritime Law Association. 

Murat Sümer is The Nippon Foundation Lecturer in International Maritime Law at IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) in Malta. Before joining IMLI in 2019, he used to work as a career diplomat responsible for maritime law affairs for the MFA of Türkiye. He also acted as an Alternate Permanent Representative to the IMO between 2013-2015. He holds two LL.M. degrees. He is currently a PhD candidate at Maastricht University where he conducted research on the regulatory aspects of MASS with a particular focus on the compliance issues with UNCLOS and SOLAS. 

Robert Beckman is an Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Law of the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he has taught since 1977. He was the founding Director of the Centre for International Law (CIL), a university-level research institute at NUS. He is currently Head of CIL’s Ocean Law and Policy programme. He has taught several international law courses at NUS, including Ocean Law & Policy and International Regulation of Shipping, and he currently teaches a course on International Regulation of the Global Commons. Since 2009 he has lectured in the summer programme at the Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy in Rhodes, Greece, and he is a member of the Governing Board for the Rhodes Academy. He has published widely on ocean law and policy issues. He is also a Senior Advisor to the Maritime Security Programme of the Institute for Defence & Strategic Studies (IDSS) at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). 

Katrina Kemp is the MCA’s Maritime Autonomy Policy lead working on the regulatory developments in the UK and at IMO since 2018. An experienced civil servant with a PhD in maritime history Katrina has an understanding of both research and policy development. She led the UK MARLab project, 2019-20, that helped government understand how the industry was developing in the UK and some of the legal challenges facing autonomous vessels. She is currently working with DfT on the Transport Bill to introduce primary legislation to support and allow the safe, secure and environmentally friendly operation of MASS in the UK. As the UK’s Lead negotiator in the IMO MASS working group focused on evolving the IMO regulatory framework to allow the operation of MASS internationally, including a MASS Code, she ensures the work and developments domestically help to direct developments internationally.

Capt M Segar is the Assistant Chief Executive (Operations) of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). He holds a Master (Foreign-going) Certificate of Competency and a Master of Science (Maritime Administration & Environmental Protection) from the World Maritime University, Malmo (Sweden). Prior to his current appointment in MPA, he was a Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) sponsored student and after his sailing career, he worked with the Port of Singapore Authority as a Harbour Pilot (1 Jan 90 to 1 Feb 96). He then joined MPA as a Marine Officer and was subsequently promoted as the Port Master, MPA (Jan 2001 to Jul 2008). He was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) (Bar) Pingat Pentadbiran Awam (Perak) (Lintang) at the National Day Awards 2017. In his current capacity as the Assistant Chief Executive (Operations), Capt Segar oversees operational matters pertaining to the smooth and safe running of the Port of Singapore, so as to ensure that the world’s busiest port remains safe, secure and efficient, thereby facilitating the development and promotion of Singapore as a hub port and international maritime centre. Capt Segar also oversees the administration of our responsibilities as a Flag State, Port State and Coastal State, and the use of technology to enhance our operations.