Press Releases

Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Daniel Webster (R-FL) announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing next week on the use and regulation of autonomous and experimental maritime technologies. The hearing will focus on the increasingly automated and experimental technologies in the maritime industry and the commercial and U.S. Coast Guard uses of these technologies, in addition to the regulatory framework necessary to ensure their safe use.  The hearing, which will include discussion of the recent accident involving the submersible vessel “Titan,” is entitled “Use and Regulation of Autonomous and Experimental Maritime Technologies,” and will be held at 2:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, in 2253 Rayburn House Office Building.

Witness List:

PANEL I

• Rear Admiral Wayne R. Arguin Jr., Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy (CG-5P), United States Coast Guard
• Rear Admiral Todd Wiemers, Assistant Commandant for Capability (CG-7), United States Coast Guard

PANEL II

• Mr. Sean Pribyl, Committee Member, Committee on Coast Guard Maritime Domain Awareness, National Academy of Sciences Report, “Leveraging Unmanned Systems for Coast Guard Missions”
• Mr. Michael Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, Sea Machines Robotics Inc.
• Mr. Patrick Lahey, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Triton Submarines
• Mr. T. Christian Spain, Vice President of Government Relations, American Maritime Officers

More information about the hearing, including witness testimony and a link to the live webcast, will be posted here as it becomes available.