Navi-drone e obbligo internazionale di prestare soccorso in mare

This article aims at contributing to the debate on the possibility to extend to pilots of unmanned ships the shipmaster’s duty to render assistance at sea, as well as on the overall compatibility with the said duty of the advent of such ships. To this end, the content and scope of the duty to render assistance at sea, as well as of the related obligations, are briefly described. This will allow not only to consider these obligations applicable to pilots of unmanned ships, but also to argue that the use of such ships does not conflict, in principle, with their content. On the other hand, in assessing the compatibility of the use of unmanned ships with respect to the aforementioned duty, the investigation will be extended beyond the aspects relating to a possible violation of the duty in the strict sense, examining the overall consistency of the search and rescue legal regime, as well as its future effectiveness. On the basis of this analysis, the need to integrate the regulatory framework will be supported, and some possible solutions will be indicated within the framework of the recent trends that characterize the regulatory activity conducted by the International Maritime Organization.