FAVOR

FAVOR is a research project funded by Horizon Europe with £1.2m, launched on 1 June 2026 and led by Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). Its full scope covers the regulatory, risk, cybersecurity, human factors, education and training, sustainability and maritime workforce-transition dimensions of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS). The project brings together European academic and industry partners to recommend a pan-European regulatory architecture rather than allowing national regimes to diverge after the IMO MASS Code.

FAVOR descends directly from the IMO MASS Code adopted on 22 May 2026, which set a global baseline for autonomous cargo ships but Left the harder questions of cross-border harmonisation, liability, cybersecurity standards and workforce transition to be resolved by others. FAVOR is the academic forum commissioned to do that.

The project's workforce-transition strand is politically significant: the seafarers' union Nautilus International argued at the IMO that a master must remain aboard whenever any crew are present, contesting the empty-bridge model the Code permits. FAVOR places that dispute in independent academic study rather than vendor advocacy, giving its eventual recommendations credibility with both regulators and unions. The LJMU-led consortium works across all seven IMO MASS-Code strands, meaning its output will feed directly into the post-2026 Experience Building Phase and potentially into the binding framework due by 1 January 2032.