Unmanned vehicles, as the name suggests, are vehicles that do not require a driver or a pilot for operation and they can be controlled from a distant location.  Unmanned vehicles could be operated in air (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAVs), at the surface of a sea or ocean (Unmanned Surface Vehicles or USVs) and underwater (Unmanned Underwater Vehicles or UUVs). Unmanned vehicles are also used for industrial activities such as the oil and gas industry, incorporate underwater equipment examinations, discovery of trenches and monitoring of marine wildlife activity around oil and gas activities.

UMV activities in the ocean rely on various conditions particularly whether their lawful status is that of ships or not. On the chance, that UMVs are considered to be ships, the limitations and the opportunities of international transportation would be applicable to them.  On the other hand, if UMVs are not considered to be ships, various principles would be applications. These principles include insurance accessible to vessels, the exclusive jurisdiction of the flag state in high seas that does not bear many special cases. Whether or not these legal provisions will be applicable to UMVs, only time will tell.

The United Nations Convention on Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) systematizes as well as expands upon standard provisions of international law. It endorses comprehensive legal provisions and regulations that deal privileges of the states and commitments in regard of their vessels. UNCLOS likewise recommends regulations for devices and equipment especially with regards to research for marine wildlife. Therefore, a pertinent issue observed here is whether UMVs establish themselves to be ships, gadgets, hardware or maybe, nothing unless there are other options. This may rely upon their physical appearance, operational profile and their level of self-sufficiency. To further complicate matters, classification of a particular UMV might differ from state to state. Regardless of whether such contrasts could genuinely arise, relevance upon the lucidity of the meaning accommodated for every classification in UNCLOS might be taken into consideration while deciding upon their legal classification.

The legal status of UMVs is at present ambiguous both under international law and in Indian Law. This issue is somewhat different from UAVs the status of which has been resolved by Indian Law. Specifically, there is no consensus on two central points of interest concerning UMVs that raises certain specific queries, such as:

1. What type of UMVs may be classified as warships?
2. What is the legal status of the crew which operates such UMVs?
3. Should UMVs be classified as ships?

One of the issues in inspecting the legal status of UMVs is whether they are to be considered as a distinct entity that requires different regulatory system or as a part of its conveying stage. There is a possibility that UMVs conveyed by a navy vessel or a warship for purposes of self-defence or navigational well-being in-transit through a narrow channel could appropriately be considered as a subordinate or part of the vessel or warship. Although, it may not be important to determine a significant number of the issues that have been addressed by various experts.  For instance, if a UMV is conveyed by a warship that is occupied with transit passage, it may not be important to determine whether the UMV is to be considered as a ship having an autonomous right is transit passage provided that, the UMV can appropriately be viewed as a subordinate or part of the warship.  The lawful investigation would, basically, be whether the warship when it is occupied with transit passage is legitimately qualified to convey such a system.

Unmanned maritime vehicles are certainly the future of the maritime industry, not only for military purposes but for commercial purposes as well. Considering that, UMV technology is fairly new, there is a lot of positive scope for development of a regulatory framework governing UMVs. However, it is pertinent to note that the legal development of UMVs must take certain aspects into consideration. The most prominent aspect with regards to giving a legal status to a UMV is to establish whether UMV is considered to be a ship or not.  If a UMV is considered to be a ship, then the issue that arises is whether or not the International Law regulations paired with domestic law regulations would be applicable upon UMVs as well.  This could certainly prove to be an aspect where the international community would have disagreement with one another.  On the other hand, if UMVs are not considered to be ships then, there needs to be a comprehensive analysis into this aspect and there needs to be a determination of the status of UMVs.  The problem with this is that it could take a significant amount of time before the international community comes to consensus.

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