ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a set of questions and identifies problems more than providing a set of answers to the future regulations of maritime autonomy. The main question to be answered in developing both maritime autonomy and regulations is how to make rules before knowing what to make regulations for? The discussion does not provide one definitive answer to this question but identifies several areas for further investigation and sub-questions that need to be raised and answered. A central topic is the human role in the future concepts and further, the responsibility and liability of those involved in the operations of a maritime autonomous concept. Further, a new and different use of technology calls for different requirements for the regulations and for regulators. Finally, a principal question is raised: what could we expect if we cannot unite around one understanding and way forward in the development of maritime autonomy?
The complexity of the regulatory challenge needs to be solved by understanding the overall picture and answering the principal questions, while also having the competence of finding answers to the more detailed sub-questions. From the discussions, it is apparent that a joint development of regulations and the development of autonomous concepts is necessary to find the best solutions to the identified problems.
