Aim of this paper is to investigate how a series of different factors are coexisting in shipping accidents. We analyzed 355 shipping accident reports from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), which are publicly available from the official EMSA website. For this purpose we used the K-means clustering method with 15 a priori defined clusters. Our results indicated that human factors often coexist with parameters related to the condition of the ship and other external factors (i.e. bad weather). Our investigation aims to contribute to the better understanding of underlying factors so that more targeted staff training, manning and shipping maintenance measures can be taken to prevent future events. CategoriesI.5 Pattern recognition, I.5.3 Clustering

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The aim of this paper is to evaluate the current international maritime legislative framework and assess its relevance in sustaining the operations of unmanned ships while addressing the issue of liability from system malfunctions. The paper initially explores the legal definition of a ship and evaluates whether the existence of an on-board crew is an integral part of the definition. Subsequently, the analysis continues with assessing the legal implications and challenges for the sustainable operation of unmanned ships, such as the governing flag state legislation that defines liability parameters, taking into consideration the existing levels of vessel automation. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the contractual issues and potential stakeholder liability related to governing a flag state. In addition, the potential transfer of liability from the ship operators to manufacturers as pertains to unmanned ship operation is also addressed. The concluding remarks suggest that unmanned ship operation is sustainable under the current international maritime legislative framework; however, the current legislation should be considered as a baseline from which specific legislation for the operation of unmanned ships can be drawn. The methodology utilised for this paper is based on the legal doctrine.

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