The Rulebook Switches On — MASS Code in Force as Shipping Discovers the EU AI Act

On July 1 the IMO's International Code of Safety for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships — the first global framework covering remote-controlled and AI-enabled cargo vessels — quietly entered into force as a voluntary instrument, opening what the IMO calls an "Experience Building Phase" in which flag states, owners and class societies gather real operating data before any mandatory rules follow. Adopted by the Maritime Safety Committee on May 22, the code is a genuine milestone — but its scope is limited to cargo ships, and voluntary means exactly that. The sharper wake-up call came at an industry panel reported by Splash: moderator Cynthia Worley of Sedna warned that the EU AI Act enters full enforcement this year, carrying fines of up to €35m or 7% of global annual turnover for companies unable to demonstrate governance of their AI processes — and a show of hands revealed almost nobody in the room had heard of it. Oldendorff's Scott Bergeron was refreshingly honest: most operators are still working out how to deploy AI, let alone govern it. Lloyd's Register's Alberto Perez offered a usable framework — define the function being deployed, its decision boundaries, and its performance limits — while classification societies fill the gap themselves, with DNV's recently launched RuleAgent linking every AI answer back to source rule text. Why this matters for ship managers: AI governance just moved from a conference topic to a compliance exposure with a number attached. What to do now: inventory which of your systems count as AI under the EU Act, ask every vendor for their accountability documentation, and treat governance evidence as a standard procurement requirement. [Splash247]

This story is part of the Maritime AI Digest of 19 July 2026.

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