Autonomous Maritime

IMO degrees · stacks · MASS Code · electric

At sea, autonomy ships first as a navigation co-pilot on crewed vessels and as remote control on small electric ones. The IMO's first code for autonomous ships took effect in July 2026, but it is voluntary until at least 2032, so crewless cargo stays a route-by-route national approval.

Ladder of the four IMO degrees of ship autonomy with named examples: degree 1, decision aid with crew, Avikus HiNAS and Orca AI on large ships; degree 2, remote control with crew aboard, Yara Birkeland, Zhi Fei and MEGURI2040 trials; degree 3, remote control with no crew, ASKO's Oslofjord barges and Ocean Infinity's Armada; degree 4, fully autonomous, naval uncrewed surface vessels such as Sea Hunter, Saronic and JARI. Below, a timeline: the voluntary MASS Code in effect July 2026 and a mandatory code no earlier than January 2032. IMO DEGREES OF AUTONOMY, WITH VESSELS AT EACH 1 Decision aidAvikus HiNAS, Orca AI on crewed large ships 2 Remote, crew aboardYara Birkeland, Zhi Fei, MEGURI2040 trials 3 Remote, no crewASKO Oslofjord barges, Ocean Infinity Armada 4 Fully autonomousNaval USVs: Sea Hunter, Saronic, JARI July 2026 MASS Code, voluntary Jan 2032 Mandatory, earliest Gold: Korea. Gray: mixed countries. The code covers cargo ships.
MASS Code
Voluntary, July 2026
Mandatory code
2032 at the earliest
Yara Birkeland
120 TEU, 6.8 MWh
Hub
Vehicles

Finding

Ship autonomy is spreading as a decision-support retrofit on large crewed ships, while crewless operation is confined to small battery-electric vessels on fixed routes and to defense craft

HD Hyundai's Avikus sells its HiNAS system to Korean and foreign owners for collision avoidance and route planning on LNG carriers and car carriers with crew aboard. The cargo vessels built for crewless operation - Norway's Yara Birkeland and ASKO's Oslofjord barges, and China's Zhi Fei - are battery-electric and run short fixed routes.

The International Maritime Organization adopted its Code of Safety for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS Code) at the 111th Maritime Safety Committee in May 2026, in effect from July 1, 2026. It applies to cargo ships and covers single autonomous or remote functions even with crew aboard; flag states must certify each remote operation center, and a human master stays responsible and may be ashore if able to intervene. The code is voluntary. An experience-building phase collects operating data first, and a mandatory code is planned no earlier than January 1, 2032. Until then Norway, Japan, China, South Korea and Singapore approve projects one at a time with class societies such as DNV, ClassNK, KR and CCS.

Kongsberg (Norway) supplied Yara Birkeland's autonomy and, with Wilhelmsen, runs remote operations through Massterly; Sea Machines (US) sells SM300 autonomy kits for tugs, workboats and US Navy craft; Orca AI (Israel) and Avikus (Korea) sell AI watchkeeping to large fleets; Wärtsilä and ABB supply auto-docking and remote maneuvering on Nordic ferries. Japan's Nippon Foundation runs MEGURI2040 with NYK, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and others toward autonomous coastal shipping by 2040. In China, Navigation Brilliance operates Zhi Fei, a 300 TEU electric container ship near Qingdao; Zhuhai Yunzhou builds uncrewed surface vessels for survey and defense; and CSSC built Zhu Hai Yun, a mothership for marine drones.

Electrification and autonomy reinforce each other on short-sea routes. A battery ship has fewer machinery systems for a crew to watch, it charges at the berth through an automated plug, and removing crew quarters frees space for battery. Yara Birkeland carries 6.8 MWh for its run between Herøya and Brevik. Uncrewed defense craft - Saronic and Saildrone in the US, Ukrainian sea drones in the Black Sea, Chinese USVs from CSSC's JARI line - are the only fleets that routinely sail with no one aboard. For fleets by segment see Autonomous Watercraft Fleets; for ports see Autonomous Seaports.

IMO degrees

IMO degrees of ship autonomy

IMO degrees of autonomy with examples
DegreeDefinitionVessels and systemsStatus
Degree 1Crew aboard; automated processes and decision supportAvikus HiNAS on LNG carriers and Hyundai Glovis car carriers; Orca AICommercial
Degree 2Remotely controlled, seafarers aboardYara Birkeland; Zhi Fei; MEGURI2040 demonstrationsTrials and commercial service with crew
Degree 3Remotely controlled, no seafarers aboardASKO's Marit and Therese (Massterly); Ocean Infinity Armada; Sea Machines-equipped workboatsShort routes and survey work
Degree 4Fully autonomousUS Navy Sea Hunter; Saildrone; Saronic; Chinese naval USVsDefense and research

Electric vessels

Battery-electric vessels built for autonomous operation

All four run short fixed routes inside one country's waters.

Electric autonomous vessels
VesselOperatorCountryTypePowertrainAutonomyStatus
Yara BirkelandYara InternationalNorway120 TEU container ship, 6.8 MWhbattery-electricCrewed; autonomous operation trialsIn service since 2022
Marit and ThereseASKO (NorgesGruppen); MassterlyNorwayRo-ro trailer barges, Oslofjordbattery-electricRemote-supervised crossingsIn service
EstelleTorghatten; ZeabuzSwedenPassenger ferry, Stockholmbattery-electricAutonomous with safety crewTrial service
Zhi FeiNavigation Brilliance (Qingdao)China300 TEU container shipbattery-electricRemote and autonomous navigation with crewIn service since 2022

Stacks

Ship autonomy stacks

Ship autonomy stacks
StackCompanyCountryFunctionVessels
K-Bridge autonomy; MassterlyKongsberg (with Wilhelmsen)NorwayAutonomy and remote operation centerYara Birkeland; ASKO barges
HiNAS 2.0Avikus (HD Hyundai)South KoreaAI navigation and collision avoidancePrism Courage LNG carrier; Hyundai Glovis car carriers
SM300Sea MachinesUSAutonomy kit and remote commandTugs, fireboats, US Navy craft
Orca AIOrca AIIsraelAI watchkeeping, collision avoidanceLarge commercial fleets
Auto-docking; IntelliTugWärtsiläFinlandDocking and maneuvering automationFerries and tugs
Zhi Fei systemNavigation BrillianceChinaRemote and autonomous navigationZhi Fei
USV platformsZhuhai Yunzhou TechChinaUncrewed surface vesselsSurvey, mapping, defense
MEGURI2040Nippon Foundation with NYK, MOL and othersJapanNational autonomous ship programCoastal container ships and ferries

Sources

Sources and scope

Scope
Autonomous Maritime
Sources
IMO MSC 111 and DNV (MASS Code, May 2026); Kongsberg; Avikus; Sea Machines; Orca AI; Wärtsilä; Nippon Foundation MEGURI2040; Yara; ElectronsX marine dataset; Oct 2026
Updated
October 2026