Workboat Code 3, Annex 2: What UK Rules Actually Say About Remote and Unmanned Workboats

The UK-Specific Detail Behind the Headlines

IMO's MASS Code sets the global framework for autonomous shipping. Annex 2 of Workboat Code Edition 3 is the UK's own detailed rulebook for a specific, real category already operating today: Remotely Operated Unmanned Vessels (ROUVs) under 24m Load Line Length, working as workboats. If you're on the deck or engineering side of an operation moving toward remote or autonomous small-vessel work, this Annex — not the MASS Code headlines — is where the actual operational requirements live.

What a ROUV Is Not Allowed to Do

The Code is explicit and restrictive. A Remotely Operated Unmanned Vessel shall not: be fitted with a deck crane or other lifting device (except for survey equipment, case-by-case); carry a spare portable petrol container; have an engine that can only be hand-started; carry any open-flame appliance or gas installation; carry a liquid-fuelled galley cooker or heater; be a dedicated pilot boat or hold a pilot boat endorsement; be fitted with a diver lift or used as a diving platform; transfer passengers or industrial personnel; carry dangerous goods (beyond a narrow exception for paint/paint-related material and aerosol lubricants for the vessel's own use); tow another vessel or object (again, survey equipment excepted); or operate as a mother vessel.

In exchange for these restrictions, an equally long list of main-Code sections simply don't apply — Life-Saving Appliances (Section 14), Accommodation and Recreational Facilities (Section 21), Medical Care (Section 23), and Dangerous Goods carriage (Section 29) among them. The logic runs both ways: strip out anything that assumes people are physically aboard, and add back a set of remote-operation-specific controls instead.

The Working Log — What Actually Has to Be Recorded

Every ROUV must keep a working log at the control position covering: pre-departure checks, course and compass error, weather, speed, overboard discharges, cargo weight, the duration and location of any signal loss, loss-of-steering events, engineering/navigational/safety alarms, impaired situational awareness (a failed camera or sensor counts), bilge pump activation, completed maintenance, critical-system test results, every accident, and — specifically — every near miss, including supporting evidence for any COLREGS departure made to avoid immediate danger. Handover between watchkeepers, changes of designated Master, and every switch of control between Remote Operation Centres must also be logged.