Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV)

A surface craft operated with no crew on board, either remotely controlled from shore or running autonomously, used for hydrographic survey, environmental monitoring, security patrol, and naval mine countermeasures. Functionally a USV overlaps an ASV; ‘unmanned’ stresses the absence of onboard crew, mapping to IMO MASS Degree 3 (remotely controlled, no crew aboard) or Degree 4 (fully autonomous). USVs operate on the surface, separating them from subsurface AUVs and aerial UAS. The MASS Code, non-mandatory from 2026, will frame their regulatory status.