Through a smart legal framework towards Smart autonomous Inland Shipping.

Europe's waterways are a vital resource that we have underused for most of the last century. Now, with the possibility for mass autonomous shipping, these canals and rivers offer a network of opportunities for sustainable logistics. A number of operational and technological research projects aiming at setting up such system are currently taking place. Apart from operational and technologic innovations being required for such market introduction, important legal innovations also stand in the way of a successful commercial market introduction. These legal challenges exist both at the level of Regulation and at the level of contract law. The project aims to eliminate obstacles in both fields. A large number of provisions in existing regulation oppose against unmanned inland navigation. The underlying problem with this, is that a legal framework acknowledging unmanned shipping, going beyond (ad hoc) experiment legislation is absent. This project aims to map the state of the art of legal aspects of autonomous transportation, bring together stakeholders and draft international project proposals.

Keywords:INLAND SHIPPING, TRANSPORT LAW

Disciplines:Innovation and technology management, Logistics and supply chain management, Civil law, European law, Legal practice, lawyering and the legal profession, Liability law