Revolutionizing ocean engineering: the impact of autonomous vehicles

In ocean engineering, engineering principles are applied to the ocean domain. Advanced technology is facilitating efficient exploration of oceanic regions with minimal human intervention, and autonomous vehicles are increasingly used to automate various ocean engineering tasks. However, using fully autonomous vehicles raises ethical and legal concerns that must be properly regulated. Nowadays, the most common applications of autonomous vehicles in the ocean domain include infrastructure maintenance, underwater mapping, resource exploration, environmental monitoring, and various military operations such as mine warfare (MW) and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). This article explores the prevalent applications of autonomous vehicles in ocean engineering, analyzing existing regulations, liability and accountability issues, data privacy, cybersecurity challenges, and interoperability. Through a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis, it was possible to better understand the current state of using autonomous vehicles in ocean engineering and develop a possible future strategy in the field. To make the usage of autonomous vehicles more reliable in ocean engineering, it is essential to advance them technologically and update the existing laws that deal with these kinds of applications.