Unconventional Law for Unconventional Ships? The Role of Informal Law in the Interna-tional Maritime Organization's Quest to Regulate Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships

New technologies have regularly been triggers for the creation of new rules by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) are not novel in this respect. All the same, MASS stand out from previous technological inventions in various respects and their regulation poses exceptional challenges, not only in terms of the content of rules but also as regards the regulatory techniques to be deployed. This chapter probes the normative techniques that seem suitable in the context of MASS by concentrating on the role informal law could play in the IMO's quest to regulate this novel type of vessel.