Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS), an emerging area of digital advancement in shipping and shipbuilding industries, presents a different legal paradigm from that of existing ships. Existing maritime-related industries, including shipping, shipbuilding, and logistics, based on large hardware called ships, are rapidly changing into highly autonomous software-centered structures. This study is focused on analyzing the legal issues in preparation for MASS’ commercial operations in the future by applying comparative methods centered on the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom. The study’s results contribute to the criteria for the manufacturing responsibility of autonomous ship-embedded software and a desirable legal policy improvement plan. Various legal issues and macro legal policy directions related to software product liability were identified. The study also presents concrete implementation strategies to achieve an ideological harmony and a balance between equitable damage relief and the advancement of related technologies to ensure maritime safety in the maritime industry. Based on the issues identified and their legal policy alternatives, it is hoped that the institutional ideal of product liability, which promotes technological advancement and protects consumer rights, is realized in the software domain as well.

This study addresses the critical challenge of lacking quantitative measures for objective evaluation of vessel traffic service (VTS) operator workload, where current uniform staffing approaches fail to reflect center-specific operational characteristics. The VTS Operator Workload Index (VOWI) model was developed using the Delphi–AHP methodology to determine the relative importance of key factors including traffic, sea area characteristics, port facilities, and weather conditions, which formed the basis for calculating both center-wide and per-operator workload indices. Factor analysis revealed that traffic factors showed the highest importance at 0.4627, followed by sea area (0.1960), port facilities (0.1916), and weather (0.1497) factors. Application of the VOWI model to 19 VTS centers in South Korea demonstrated that per-operator workload at Busan, Incheon, and Ulsan VTS was up to three times higher than at other centers. This finding indicates that the current uniform staffing approach based on sector count inadequately reflects each center’s actual operational characteristics. The VOWI model provides objective criteria for efficient personnel management in VTS centers and is expected to contribute to improving VTS service quality.

Roundabouts are widely used in road transport to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion by enabling continuous movement in a circular pattern, minimizing stops, enhancing safety, and reducing delays compared to that of signaled intersections. However, roundabouts are rarely used in marine traffic. This study investigates the feasibility of redesigning existing rectangular precautionary areas within traffic separation schemes (TSSs) into circular roundabouts using marine traffic data incorporating both the number of ships passing and crossing, as well as microscopic movement data to further analyze the follow-up times and gaps based on ship domains. This study further assesses the overall performance of the proposed design, drawing on notable formulas and best practices in road transport. The Lombok Strait TSS, in Indonesia, is used as the study area, which is a particularly sensitive sea area and one of the critical “chokepoints” in the maritime supply chain. The results indicate that replacing rectangular areas with circular roundabouts in a TSS can significantly improve traffic management and navigation safety. This study offers a practical approach for redesigning rectangular precautionary areas into circular roundabouts and provides valuable insights for maritime authorities and policymakers aiming to develop more efficient TSS designs in the future.