Michael Baldauf - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Michael Baldauf

Research paper thumbnail of Accident reporting deficiencies related to human and organizational factors in engine room fires on board ships

Theory and Applications, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Making the case for Crew-Centered Design (CCD) in merchant shipping

Since 2003, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has emphasised the need to address and ... more Since 2003, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has emphasised the need to address and integrate ergonomics knowledge in a concerted manner. However, there is little guidance on the application of this knowledge in the design of merchant vessels. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, the paper identifies the need for crew-centered design (CCD), highlighting the importance of using concepts derived from Human-Centred Design (HCD) to be able to design work spaces and operational procedures that facilitate the work of the crew on board. Drawing upon results obtained from accident analysis (utilising the Technique for the Retrospective and predictive Analysis of Cognitive Errors-TRACEr) and 24 semi-structured interviews, this paper identifies areas in which it could be potentially beneficial to integrate end-users in the design of ships and shipborne operations. This paper further discusses why and how concepts rooted in HCD could be used to improve maritime workspace and interf...

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring Bridge-Engine Control Room Collaborative Team Communication

TransNav, the International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, 2015

ABSTRACT The EC funded CyClaDes research project is designed to promote the increased impact of t... more ABSTRACT The EC funded CyClaDes research project is designed to promote the increased impact of the human element in shipping across the design and operational lifecycle. It addresses the design and operation of ships and ship systems. One of the CyClaDes’ tasks is to create a crew-centered design case-study examination of the information that is shared between the Bridge and Engine Control Room that helps the crew co-ordinate to ensure understanding and complete interconnected tasks. This information can be provided in various ways, including communication devices or obtained from a common database, display, or even the ship environment (e.g., the roll of the ship). A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with seafarers of diverse ranks to get a better idea of what communication does, or should, take place and any problems or challenges existing in current operations, as seen from both the bridge and ECR operators’ perspectives. Included in the interview were both the standard communications and information shared during planning and executing a voyage, as well as special situations such as safety/casualty tasks or heavy weather. The results were analyzed in terms of the goals of the communication, the primary situations of interest for communication and collaboration, the communication media used, the information that is shared, and the problems experienced. The results of seafarer interviews are presented in the paper to explore on-board inter-departmental communication.

Research paper thumbnail of Simulation-Based Team Training for Maritime Safety and Security

Research paper thumbnail of From Titanic to Costa Concordia - a century of lessons not learned

Research paper thumbnail of From Titanic to Costa Concordia—a century of lessons not learned

The recent foundering of the Costa Concordia in January 2012 demonstrated that accidents can occu... more The recent foundering of the Costa Concordia in January 2012 demonstrated that accidents can occur even with ships that are considered masterpieces of modern technology and despite more than 100 years of regulatory and technological progress in maritime safety. The purpose of this paper is, however, not to speculate about the concrete causes of the Costa Concordia accident, but rather to consider some human and organizational factors that were present in the Costa Concordia accident as well as in the foundering of the Titanic a century ago, and which can be found in many other maritime accidents over the years. The paper argues that these factors do not work in isolation but in combination and often together with other underlying factors. The paper critically reviews the focus of maritime accident investigations and points out that these factors do not receive sufficient attention. It is argued that the widespread confidence in the efficacy of new or improved technical regulations, that characterizes the recommendations from most maritime accident investigations, has led to a lack of awareness of complex interactions of factors and components in socio-technical systems. If maritime safety is to be sustainably improved, a systemic focus must be adopted in future accident investigations.

Research paper thumbnail of e-Navigation and situation-dependent manoeuvring assistance to enhance maritime emergency response

Safe ship handling in every situation and under all prevailing circumstances of ship status and t... more Safe ship handling in every situation and under all prevailing circumstances of ship status and the environment is a core element contributing to the safety of the maritime transportation system. Especially in case of emergencies, there is a need for quick, accurate and reliable information to manoeuvre a ship safely. This paper focusses on investigations into enhanced response to maritime emergencies by means of onboard manoeuvring support. The research and discussions are done exemplarily for person overboard (PoB) accidents. PoB is a typical situation for application of manoeuvring assistance and decision support, e.g. in order to return quickly to the position of the accident. Based on the analysis of selected accident case studies and existing solutions representing the technical stateof-the-art, shortcomings will be identified and discussed, and a potential approach for advanced manoeuvring support in the context of e-Navigation-based requirements will be introduced and discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of Collision avoidance systems in air and maritime traffic

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part O: Journal of Risk and Reliability, 2011

ABSTRACT In each transport mode, collisions between vehicles are one of the major operational ris... more ABSTRACT In each transport mode, collisions between vehicles are one of the major operational risks. In maritime traffic collisions and groundings is the category with the highest frequency of all accidents. Although new navigational equipment, often combined with enhanced computer-based systems, is installed on ships’ bridges, the number of collisions is still at a high level. The equivalent of ship collisions in air traffic is the mid-air collision. Compared to the maritime accident rate, mid-air collisions are very rare. In this paper we investigate the onboard collision avoidance process by focusing on technical support systems with implemented alerts to support the human operator. Empirical field studies have been undertaken to analyse the situation regarding the occurrence and handling of alerts onboard seagoing vessels. Especially with respect to collision avoidance alarms, the situation was found to be unsatisfactory. The algorithms in use are based on fixed static limit values and little selected information is used although new systems provide more and enhanced situation-specific data. A comparative study of the traffic-alert and collision avoidance system used by air traffic is made to identify potentials for synergies to improve maritime operational risk management. As an innovative approach, the development of a concept to adapt alarm thresholds automatically by using enhanced fast-time simulation techniques is introduced and discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of Accident investigation reporting deficiencies related to organizational factors in machinery space fires and explosions

Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2011

Careful accident investigation provides opportunities to review safety arrangements in socio-tech... more Careful accident investigation provides opportunities to review safety arrangements in socio-technical systems. There is consensus that human intervention is involved in the majority of accidents. Ever cautious of the consequences attributed to such a claim vis-à-vis the apportionment of blame, several authors have highlighted the importance of investigating organizational factors in this respect. Specific regulations to limit what were perceived as unsuitable organizational influences in shipping operations were adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Guidance is provided for the investigation of human and organizational factors involved in maritime accidents. This paper presents a review of 41 accident investigation reports related to machinery space fires and explosions. The objective was to find out if organizational factors are identified during maritime accident investigations. An adapted version of the Human Factor Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) with minor modifications related to machinery space features was used for this review. The results of the review show that organizational factors were not identified by maritime accident investigators to the extent expected had the IMO guidelines been observed. Instead, contributing factors at the lower end of organizational echelons are over-represented.

Research paper thumbnail of Advanced Maritime Technologies to Support Manoeuvring in Case of Emergencies-a Contribution to E-navigation Development

... The first task of the bridge team is to mark the position, release a life ring with safety bu... more ... The first task of the bridge team is to mark the position, release a life ring with safety buoy (smoke and light ... Further detailed descrip-tions can be found in Benedict (2010 ... to achieve smallest distance (limit=10m) between in-itial track and return track on opposite heading (lim-it=2 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Enhanced simulation technologies to support maritime operational risk management onboard ships

Research paper thumbnail of E-NAVIGATION, DIGITALIZATION AND UNMANNED SHIPS: CHALLENGES FOR FUTURE MARITIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The present situation in international shipping is characterized by rapid technological developme... more The present situation in international shipping is characterized by rapid technological developments effecting the basic concepts of operating ships and even changing traditional paradigms of controlling ships. The e-Navigation concept developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) and commonly defined as the "harmonized collection, integration, exchange, presentation and analysis of marine information on board and ashore by electronic means to enhance berth to berth navigation and related services for safety and security at sea and protection of the marine environment" [1] focuses on better and more comprehensive support of the human operators. However, modern Information and Communication technologies (ICT) are not only core to the implementation of the e-Navigation strategy but provide good foundation for automation of systems. The progressing digitalization further press ahead application of integrated and automated systems to steer even large seagoing ships. The manifold abilities of those technologies and companies looking for more cost-effective solutions are presenting autonomous navigation and unmanned shipping as soon to come. Taking this for granted, it will not happen that all ships will operate unmanned and autonomously. It is assumed that there will be periods when unmanned ships will operate together with unmanned either autonomous or remote controlled ships. Mixed traffic scenarios seem to be especially challenging in terms of the safety and efficiency of the vessel traffic flow. In this paper we present investigations and some first preliminary results of a simulation study which researched for the very first time traffic scenarios including conventional manned and future unmanned ships. Simulation trials have been planned, designed and implemented in order to study different equipment options for monitoring and remote controlling unmanned ships navigating in a coastal area covered by Vessel Traffic Services (VTS). In this pilot study first trials have been conducted with experienced seafarers and non-experienced personnel from the maritime domain. Indicators have been developed for purposes of analysis and comparison of different groups and equipment options. The outcome of these trials will be discussed in the light of evolutionary needs of operators working in control centers and requirements from human operators when remotely operating unmanned ships in areas with conventional traffic. Basic data for contributing to job profiles and training needs to be included in maritime training schemes will be introduced.

Research paper thumbnail of Maritime Safety and Security Challenges – 3D Simulation Based Training

TransNav, the International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of New Concept for Maritime Safety and Security Emergency Management – Simulation Based Training Designed for the Safety & Security Trainer (SST7)

Advances in Marine Navigation, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Train-the-Trainer Course on Energy Efficient Operation of Ships

American Journal of Climate Change, 2014

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) expanded, in 2011, its air emissions control regula... more The International Maritime Organization (IMO) expanded, in 2011, its air emissions control regulations by encouraging energy efficiency and added them to MARPOL Annex VI. To assist national implementation of these new regulations, the IMO-KOICA partnership sponsored the development of a Train-the-Trainer (TTT) project on energy efficient operation of ships. The first project objective was to develop a comprehensive training package, which covers company policy and shipping contracts, port/ship interaction, ship technical solutions and day-to-day ship management. The second objective was to enhance capacity building in developing countries by creating a pool of instructors able to raise awareness in their respective regions using the dedicated training material. During each session, pedagogic support tools backed the content delivery. Forty-one participants from thirty-two countries attended two sessions of the TTT course. The TTT training formula, blending content and pedagogics, demonstrated its efficiency by committing and challenging each participant during the entire course. The outcome of the final day assessment showed that participants captured the essence of the issues and were able to absorb the basics of pedagogy to support the distribution of the training content and spread awareness. Know-how gained through TTT will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in promoting sustainable maritime transport development as advanced by the IMO. It is the authors' strong belief that the way that the TTT course is designed, developed and delivered provides unique benefits for the participants and their countries.

Research paper thumbnail of Computer-based support for the evaluation of ship handling exercise results

WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs, 2006

One of the most important parts of the simulator exercise is the evaluation of the students' resu... more One of the most important parts of the simulator exercise is the evaluation of the students' results by the instructor both during and after the training session. This should be performed in two ways: first, during the exercise run to ensure that the training objective can be achieved and second after exercise completion in order to give the students an indication of their performance during the simulation run. For these purposes software tools have been created and implemented at the Maritime Simulation Centre in Warnemünde: the "Surveillance Tool", allows for a monitoring during the run and the "Evaluation Tool" will enable a detailed evaluation by the instructor after the run. It allows for in-depth search within the replay data and at the same time facilitates the calculation of the final score for the student's performance based on measurement factors as penalties for exceeding quality limits. Within this paper a brief overview of the principles of these methods is high-lighted and selected examples of applications are described.

Research paper thumbnail of Simulation-based Training Module to Promote Green Energy-efficient Ship Operation: Basics (ProGreenShipOperation-I)

Research paper thumbnail of Approaches to simulation-based Safety Training

Research paper thumbnail of Computer Graphics and Simulation for Maritime Safety

Research paper thumbnail of Energy-efficient ship operation through advanced maneuvre planning

Research paper thumbnail of Accident reporting deficiencies related to human and organizational factors in engine room fires on board ships

Theory and Applications, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Making the case for Crew-Centered Design (CCD) in merchant shipping

Since 2003, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has emphasised the need to address and ... more Since 2003, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has emphasised the need to address and integrate ergonomics knowledge in a concerted manner. However, there is little guidance on the application of this knowledge in the design of merchant vessels. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, the paper identifies the need for crew-centered design (CCD), highlighting the importance of using concepts derived from Human-Centred Design (HCD) to be able to design work spaces and operational procedures that facilitate the work of the crew on board. Drawing upon results obtained from accident analysis (utilising the Technique for the Retrospective and predictive Analysis of Cognitive Errors-TRACEr) and 24 semi-structured interviews, this paper identifies areas in which it could be potentially beneficial to integrate end-users in the design of ships and shipborne operations. This paper further discusses why and how concepts rooted in HCD could be used to improve maritime workspace and interf...

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring Bridge-Engine Control Room Collaborative Team Communication

TransNav, the International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, 2015

ABSTRACT The EC funded CyClaDes research project is designed to promote the increased impact of t... more ABSTRACT The EC funded CyClaDes research project is designed to promote the increased impact of the human element in shipping across the design and operational lifecycle. It addresses the design and operation of ships and ship systems. One of the CyClaDes’ tasks is to create a crew-centered design case-study examination of the information that is shared between the Bridge and Engine Control Room that helps the crew co-ordinate to ensure understanding and complete interconnected tasks. This information can be provided in various ways, including communication devices or obtained from a common database, display, or even the ship environment (e.g., the roll of the ship). A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with seafarers of diverse ranks to get a better idea of what communication does, or should, take place and any problems or challenges existing in current operations, as seen from both the bridge and ECR operators’ perspectives. Included in the interview were both the standard communications and information shared during planning and executing a voyage, as well as special situations such as safety/casualty tasks or heavy weather. The results were analyzed in terms of the goals of the communication, the primary situations of interest for communication and collaboration, the communication media used, the information that is shared, and the problems experienced. The results of seafarer interviews are presented in the paper to explore on-board inter-departmental communication.

Research paper thumbnail of Simulation-Based Team Training for Maritime Safety and Security

Research paper thumbnail of From Titanic to Costa Concordia - a century of lessons not learned

Research paper thumbnail of From Titanic to Costa Concordia—a century of lessons not learned

The recent foundering of the Costa Concordia in January 2012 demonstrated that accidents can occu... more The recent foundering of the Costa Concordia in January 2012 demonstrated that accidents can occur even with ships that are considered masterpieces of modern technology and despite more than 100 years of regulatory and technological progress in maritime safety. The purpose of this paper is, however, not to speculate about the concrete causes of the Costa Concordia accident, but rather to consider some human and organizational factors that were present in the Costa Concordia accident as well as in the foundering of the Titanic a century ago, and which can be found in many other maritime accidents over the years. The paper argues that these factors do not work in isolation but in combination and often together with other underlying factors. The paper critically reviews the focus of maritime accident investigations and points out that these factors do not receive sufficient attention. It is argued that the widespread confidence in the efficacy of new or improved technical regulations, that characterizes the recommendations from most maritime accident investigations, has led to a lack of awareness of complex interactions of factors and components in socio-technical systems. If maritime safety is to be sustainably improved, a systemic focus must be adopted in future accident investigations.

Research paper thumbnail of e-Navigation and situation-dependent manoeuvring assistance to enhance maritime emergency response

Safe ship handling in every situation and under all prevailing circumstances of ship status and t... more Safe ship handling in every situation and under all prevailing circumstances of ship status and the environment is a core element contributing to the safety of the maritime transportation system. Especially in case of emergencies, there is a need for quick, accurate and reliable information to manoeuvre a ship safely. This paper focusses on investigations into enhanced response to maritime emergencies by means of onboard manoeuvring support. The research and discussions are done exemplarily for person overboard (PoB) accidents. PoB is a typical situation for application of manoeuvring assistance and decision support, e.g. in order to return quickly to the position of the accident. Based on the analysis of selected accident case studies and existing solutions representing the technical stateof-the-art, shortcomings will be identified and discussed, and a potential approach for advanced manoeuvring support in the context of e-Navigation-based requirements will be introduced and discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of Collision avoidance systems in air and maritime traffic

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part O: Journal of Risk and Reliability, 2011

ABSTRACT In each transport mode, collisions between vehicles are one of the major operational ris... more ABSTRACT In each transport mode, collisions between vehicles are one of the major operational risks. In maritime traffic collisions and groundings is the category with the highest frequency of all accidents. Although new navigational equipment, often combined with enhanced computer-based systems, is installed on ships’ bridges, the number of collisions is still at a high level. The equivalent of ship collisions in air traffic is the mid-air collision. Compared to the maritime accident rate, mid-air collisions are very rare. In this paper we investigate the onboard collision avoidance process by focusing on technical support systems with implemented alerts to support the human operator. Empirical field studies have been undertaken to analyse the situation regarding the occurrence and handling of alerts onboard seagoing vessels. Especially with respect to collision avoidance alarms, the situation was found to be unsatisfactory. The algorithms in use are based on fixed static limit values and little selected information is used although new systems provide more and enhanced situation-specific data. A comparative study of the traffic-alert and collision avoidance system used by air traffic is made to identify potentials for synergies to improve maritime operational risk management. As an innovative approach, the development of a concept to adapt alarm thresholds automatically by using enhanced fast-time simulation techniques is introduced and discussed.

Research paper thumbnail of Accident investigation reporting deficiencies related to organizational factors in machinery space fires and explosions

Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2011

Careful accident investigation provides opportunities to review safety arrangements in socio-tech... more Careful accident investigation provides opportunities to review safety arrangements in socio-technical systems. There is consensus that human intervention is involved in the majority of accidents. Ever cautious of the consequences attributed to such a claim vis-à-vis the apportionment of blame, several authors have highlighted the importance of investigating organizational factors in this respect. Specific regulations to limit what were perceived as unsuitable organizational influences in shipping operations were adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Guidance is provided for the investigation of human and organizational factors involved in maritime accidents. This paper presents a review of 41 accident investigation reports related to machinery space fires and explosions. The objective was to find out if organizational factors are identified during maritime accident investigations. An adapted version of the Human Factor Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) with minor modifications related to machinery space features was used for this review. The results of the review show that organizational factors were not identified by maritime accident investigators to the extent expected had the IMO guidelines been observed. Instead, contributing factors at the lower end of organizational echelons are over-represented.

Research paper thumbnail of Advanced Maritime Technologies to Support Manoeuvring in Case of Emergencies-a Contribution to E-navigation Development

... The first task of the bridge team is to mark the position, release a life ring with safety bu... more ... The first task of the bridge team is to mark the position, release a life ring with safety buoy (smoke and light ... Further detailed descrip-tions can be found in Benedict (2010 ... to achieve smallest distance (limit=10m) between in-itial track and return track on opposite heading (lim-it=2 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Enhanced simulation technologies to support maritime operational risk management onboard ships

Research paper thumbnail of E-NAVIGATION, DIGITALIZATION AND UNMANNED SHIPS: CHALLENGES FOR FUTURE MARITIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING

The present situation in international shipping is characterized by rapid technological developme... more The present situation in international shipping is characterized by rapid technological developments effecting the basic concepts of operating ships and even changing traditional paradigms of controlling ships. The e-Navigation concept developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) and commonly defined as the "harmonized collection, integration, exchange, presentation and analysis of marine information on board and ashore by electronic means to enhance berth to berth navigation and related services for safety and security at sea and protection of the marine environment" [1] focuses on better and more comprehensive support of the human operators. However, modern Information and Communication technologies (ICT) are not only core to the implementation of the e-Navigation strategy but provide good foundation for automation of systems. The progressing digitalization further press ahead application of integrated and automated systems to steer even large seagoing ships. The manifold abilities of those technologies and companies looking for more cost-effective solutions are presenting autonomous navigation and unmanned shipping as soon to come. Taking this for granted, it will not happen that all ships will operate unmanned and autonomously. It is assumed that there will be periods when unmanned ships will operate together with unmanned either autonomous or remote controlled ships. Mixed traffic scenarios seem to be especially challenging in terms of the safety and efficiency of the vessel traffic flow. In this paper we present investigations and some first preliminary results of a simulation study which researched for the very first time traffic scenarios including conventional manned and future unmanned ships. Simulation trials have been planned, designed and implemented in order to study different equipment options for monitoring and remote controlling unmanned ships navigating in a coastal area covered by Vessel Traffic Services (VTS). In this pilot study first trials have been conducted with experienced seafarers and non-experienced personnel from the maritime domain. Indicators have been developed for purposes of analysis and comparison of different groups and equipment options. The outcome of these trials will be discussed in the light of evolutionary needs of operators working in control centers and requirements from human operators when remotely operating unmanned ships in areas with conventional traffic. Basic data for contributing to job profiles and training needs to be included in maritime training schemes will be introduced.

Research paper thumbnail of Maritime Safety and Security Challenges – 3D Simulation Based Training

TransNav, the International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of New Concept for Maritime Safety and Security Emergency Management – Simulation Based Training Designed for the Safety & Security Trainer (SST7)

Advances in Marine Navigation, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Train-the-Trainer Course on Energy Efficient Operation of Ships

American Journal of Climate Change, 2014

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) expanded, in 2011, its air emissions control regula... more The International Maritime Organization (IMO) expanded, in 2011, its air emissions control regulations by encouraging energy efficiency and added them to MARPOL Annex VI. To assist national implementation of these new regulations, the IMO-KOICA partnership sponsored the development of a Train-the-Trainer (TTT) project on energy efficient operation of ships. The first project objective was to develop a comprehensive training package, which covers company policy and shipping contracts, port/ship interaction, ship technical solutions and day-to-day ship management. The second objective was to enhance capacity building in developing countries by creating a pool of instructors able to raise awareness in their respective regions using the dedicated training material. During each session, pedagogic support tools backed the content delivery. Forty-one participants from thirty-two countries attended two sessions of the TTT course. The TTT training formula, blending content and pedagogics, demonstrated its efficiency by committing and challenging each participant during the entire course. The outcome of the final day assessment showed that participants captured the essence of the issues and were able to absorb the basics of pedagogy to support the distribution of the training content and spread awareness. Know-how gained through TTT will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in promoting sustainable maritime transport development as advanced by the IMO. It is the authors' strong belief that the way that the TTT course is designed, developed and delivered provides unique benefits for the participants and their countries.

Research paper thumbnail of Computer-based support for the evaluation of ship handling exercise results

WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs, 2006

One of the most important parts of the simulator exercise is the evaluation of the students' resu... more One of the most important parts of the simulator exercise is the evaluation of the students' results by the instructor both during and after the training session. This should be performed in two ways: first, during the exercise run to ensure that the training objective can be achieved and second after exercise completion in order to give the students an indication of their performance during the simulation run. For these purposes software tools have been created and implemented at the Maritime Simulation Centre in Warnemünde: the "Surveillance Tool", allows for a monitoring during the run and the "Evaluation Tool" will enable a detailed evaluation by the instructor after the run. It allows for in-depth search within the replay data and at the same time facilitates the calculation of the final score for the student's performance based on measurement factors as penalties for exceeding quality limits. Within this paper a brief overview of the principles of these methods is high-lighted and selected examples of applications are described.

Research paper thumbnail of Simulation-based Training Module to Promote Green Energy-efficient Ship Operation: Basics (ProGreenShipOperation-I)

Research paper thumbnail of Approaches to simulation-based Safety Training

Research paper thumbnail of Computer Graphics and Simulation for Maritime Safety

Research paper thumbnail of Energy-efficient ship operation through advanced maneuvre planning

Research paper thumbnail of Command of Vessels in the Era of Digitalization

Advances in Human Factors, Business Management and Society. AHFE 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 783. Springer, 2018

Recent discussions on digitalization, and autonomous ships provide a disruptive picture of how th... more Recent discussions on digitalization, and autonomous ships provide a disruptive picture of how the maritime industry may be transformed in this process. The magnitude of this digitalization trend is very different from the one of implementing e-Navigation initiated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2006 to harmonize, integrate, exchange, present and analyze marine information on board and ashore by electronic means. A rapid speed of digitalization of ship operation is causing controversy. For example, the maritime industry has not yet come to a consensus about agreed definitions of “autonomous ship”, “unmanned ship” and a “remote-controlled vessel”. Some pioneering industry developers, invest in the digitalization of ship operation to make the maritime transport more reliable, safe and efficient. Whilst such technological developments promise safe and efficient business models to a greater extent, it has not been much discussed how people on board will be affected by digitalization with a particular attention to the notion of leadership. Command of vessels has been traditionally considered as a human domain. The ways in which leadership is displayed on board and how each task is dedicated to the members of a shipboard organization will be radically different in the era of digitalization. Based on the qualitative data obtained from semi-structured interviews, group interviews and participant observation with maritime experts in Norway, the paper discusses the impact of digitalization on organized work in ship operation, implications of digitalization for leadership, and leadership required in the era of digitalization. It concludes that human- automation coordination as well as human-human coordination are the key to support the future operation of ships.