Research On Tort Liability Of Unmanned Ship Collision

In recent years,with the development and application of driverless cars,the research and development of unmanned ships is also in full swing.The application of artificial intelligence technology greatly reduces manpower input and increases ship load,among which,autonomous navigation system will replace vessel drivers.However,the application of artificial intelligence technology also raises concerns about the operation of unmanned vessels,which may bring new legal risks,especially how to determine tort liability when unmanned vessels collide.In the past,people paid little attention to the problem of product responsibility in collision accidents,but the autonomy of artificial intelligence will arouse people’s attention.Whether the application of artificial intelligence technology is enough to subvert the imputation principle of ship collision liability,whether collision damage liability and how to seek relief from product liability subject should be solved urgently.Therefore,the core problem of this thesis is the compensation liability after unmanned ships collision.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this thesis is divided into four chapters:The first chapter is the definition and legal attribute of unmanned ship.The meaning of unmanned ship is different from that of automatic ship.The former belongs to a category of automatic ship,especially in the physical state,the ship is not equipped with crew,or through remote control,or autonomous control of navigation.According to the characteristics of navigation,unmanned vessels can be divided into two types,remote control unmanned vessels and autonomous operation unmanned vessels.Although autonomous operation of unmanned ship has autonomy,its legal attribute is still right object.The second chapter is doctrine of liability fixation of unmanned ship collision liability.The remote control unmanned ship’s nature of infringement is the harm of others,as same as traditional ship,so the application of the imputation principle is also fault liability.The nature of the autonomous operation of the unmanned ship collision infringement is the material infringement,its principle of imputation also applies to the principle of fault liability,but the determination of fault adopts the fact presumption fault.The third chapter is causality of liability of compensation for unmanned ship collision damage.Causality should be determined by the two-point law rule.First,it is determined that there is a de facto objective relationship between the sued tort and the damage result,and then the value judgment is used to confirm whether there is a legal causality.In determining the causality of the liability for collision damage of unmanned vessels,it is necessary to make clear whether the cause of the collision of unmanned vessels is the fault of the remote control station or the operation error of the controller of the autonomous ship.When the unmanned ship operator proves that there is no fault for the occurrence of the collision accident,and if the damage is indeed caused by the wrong "behavior" of the ship,then the designer of the autonomous ship controller will prove whether the product has a design defect through the principle of "risk-utility",the relief of collision damage will be transformed from unmanned collision liability to product liability.The fourth chapter is the subject of liability of compensation for unmanned ship collision damage.The identification of unmanned collision liability subject should adhere to control and management principle.Namely,the ship has the intention of possession and use,and enjoys the right of income from the operation of the ship.The independent remote control station can manage and control the unmanned ship through its own employees,and is the potential collision liability subject.When the result of collision damage is remedied by product liability,it is necessary to explore the possible subject of product liability.The product liability subject includes the designer,manufacturer and seller of the product.The ship belongs to a construction project in China and the "product" that does not meet the norms of the product liability law.Therefore,when the collision ship seeks relief for damage,the ship builder is often not the suitable product liability subject.In addition,the autonomous ship controller has the characteristics of product replicability and commercial value,and its designer is also product liability subject.