https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/25/imo_robot_shipping/

The International Maritime Organisation has woken up to the notion of robot boats – and is now pondering whether to regulate them.

Unmanned shipping, as a concept, has been around for a good few years. Rolls-Royce, makers of engines for aircraft and watercraft alike for many decades, even published a marketing paper about autonomous warships last year, building on its rather more serious plans for unmanned commercial shipping.