Challenges of the digital transformation for shipping: human-centered design for marine navigation systems

The digital transformation of the marine industry presents opportunities and challenges for engineers, designers, and seafarers alike. These challenges are specifically acute in the context of the Arctic, where the presence of sea ice, severe metocean conditions, and limitations to modern charting a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Volume 6: Polar and Arctic Sciences and Technology
Main Authors: Soper, Jonathan, Smith, Jennifer, Browne, Thomas, Veitch, Brian
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: ASME 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1115/OMAE2023-101455
https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=fee942bf-6f1b-465f-b79d-b85b238a823e
https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=fee942bf-6f1b-465f-b79d-b85b238a823e
Description
Summary:The digital transformation of the marine industry presents opportunities and challenges for engineers, designers, and seafarers alike. These challenges are specifically acute in the context of the Arctic, where the presence of sea ice, severe metocean conditions, and limitations to modern charting and navigational aids present increased navigational challenges. Integration and further development of digital bridge tools can improve safety, but must take into account human factors concerns by drawing from literature and case studies where the human-machine interaction has broken down, leading to incidents. In this paper, the challenges of using digital bridge tools to support safe Arctic navigation are discussed as they relate to safe human-machine interaction. A case study of a passenger ship grounding in the Canadian Arctic is presented to demonstrate how failures in bridge equipment design and operation can contribute to accidents. This case study is discussed in relation to literature on human factors engineering and compared to other incidents where human factors was listed as a potential cause. These findings can be used to inform designers of marine navigation systems of the best practices to be aware of when implementing new technologies on the bridge of ships. Additionally, the implications of these findings on autonomous ship development and operation are discussed. Peer reviewed: Yes NRC publication: Yes