Autonomous Surface Vessel (ASV)

A surface craft that operates on the water with reduced or no onboard crew, controlling its own heading, speed, and collision avoidance via an autonomy stack of sensors, perception, and decision logic. In IMO terms an ASV maps to MASS Degrees 2 to 4 (remotely controlled with crew aboard, remotely controlled without crew, or fully autonomous). ASVs are surface platforms; this distinguishes them from AUVs (subsurface) and UAS (aerial). The IMO MASS Code is non-mandatory from 2026, targeting mandatory entry into force on 1 January 2032.