Situational awareness of navigators in high-speed craft bridge navigation operations

ABSTRACT

Navigation is a joint operation between humans and technology. Navigating high-speed craft (HSC) is a more critical and risky task than other types of ship navigation due to high speed and time limitations. Situational awareness (SA) is the understanding of what is going on around the navigators. HSC navigator who has an insufficient level of SA may lead to wrong decisions and even accidents. In this study, an analysis of Turkish HSC navigators’ SA levels has been carried out in their working environment. Situational Awareness Rating Technique (SART) and pairwise comparison of the effects of Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS), Automatic Radar Plotting Aid (ARPA), Automatic Identification System (AIS) and autopilot on SA questionnaires were applied. According to SA, navigation operations, factors that mostly affect SA and suggestions that would increase SA were sorted in accordance with the navigators’ perceptions. The results show that the level of HSC navigators’ SA is high and sufficient. Finally, considerations are introduced to keep acceptable levels or increase SA on HSCs.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical standards

The authors assert that all procedures in human research studies contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees and with the Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki). This research has been approved by the Humanities and Social Sciences Committee of Human Research Ethics of Istanbul Technical University (project permit date 6 September 2021 and number 193).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cem Kartoglu

Cem Kartoglu received his Bachelor degree in Maritime Transportation and Management Engineering from Karadeniz Technical University in 2001. He worked as oceangoing watchkeeping officer on bulk carrier, general cargo, and container vessels from 2001 until 2005. He has served as Navigation Lecturer in Naval Petty Officer Vocational School at National Defense University since 2005. He received his MS degree in Maritime Transportation Engineering from Istanbul Technical University in 2010. He is continuing his PhD education in Maritime Transportation Engineering at Istanbul Technical University. Maritime Education, Navy Ship, High Speed Craft, Safety of Navigation, Human Factor, Mental Workload, Situation Awareness, and Safety Culture are the subjects in which he studies.

Yunus Emre Senol

Yunus Emre Senol, PhD, is a lecturer in Maritime Transportation and Management Department in Maritime Faculty at Istanbul Technical University (ITU), where he has been since 2013. He received his BSc in Maritime Transportation and Management with honor degree (valedictorian of department) in 2011. After graduation, he had various maritime experiences as a marine officer on board chemical tankers for 2 years (2011–2012). In 2012, he started MSc education in Maritime Transportation Engineering at Graduate School of Science, Engineering and Technology of ITU. He received his MSc. degree in 2014 with the thesis entitled as “Fault Tree Analysis of Chemical Cargo Contamination by Fuzzy Approach”. In 2020, he completed his PhD education in Maritime Transportation Engineering at Graduate School of Science, Engineering and Technology of ITU. As lecturer, he conducted various courses in BSc level; Maritime Practical Studies, Ship Handling and Tanker Operations. He also attends IMO Model Course 6.09 Instructors Training, IMO Model Course 6.10 Simulator Trainer and Assessor Training, Liquid Cargo Operations Simulator Training, IMO Model Course 1.27 Electronic Charts Display Information Systems courses as lecturer in ITU MF Continuous Education Centre. He is assigned as a responsible lecturer of Transas Bridge Simulator. Since 2018, he has conducted more than 100 Marine Pilot’s Refreshment Training with more than 800 maritime pilots’ attendances. He has been working in industry-university cooperative projects on quantitative risk assessment during ship maneuvering in limited waters (ports and channels). Additionally, he is a research member in the European Union project (https://www.eurostars-eureka.eu/project/id/10617) entitled as “iSea” which is proposed through the understanding of his PhD study. He has various publications in international scientific journals and various international conferences as well. His main research areas are; Marine Simulators, Decision Processes, Maritime Safety Risk Analysis and Risk Assessment.

Serdar Kum

Serdar Kum, PhD, is a professor in Maritime Transportation Engineering Management Department of Maritime Faculty at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in Turkey. He was Vice Rector in ITU North Cyprus between 2015 and 2020. He received his associate professor degree twice; the first one in 2012 in the field of “Management and Strategy” and the second one in 2017 in “Marine and Ship Engineering.” He received his PhD degree in Maritime Science and Technology from Kobe University in Japan in 2008. He graduated from Deck Department of ITU Maritime Faculty and completed his master's degree in Maritime Transportation Engineering. He also holds Ship Master License (Unlimited-Ocean Going). His areas of research interest are Human Element and Mental Workload, Risk Analysis Methods and Risk Assessment in Maritime Safety and Security Management Systems, and Maritime Simulators (Deck). His recent interest is in Human Resources Management and Organizational Behaviour in the field of strategic management in maritime.