SHIP MOTION SHORT TERM TIME DOMAIN SIMULATOR AND ITS APPLICATION TO COSTA CONCORDIA EMERGENCY MANOEUVRES JUST BEFORE THE JANUARY 2012 ACCIDENT

In this paper we will present a simple but reliable methodology for short term prediction of a cruise ship behaviour during manoeuvres. The methodology is quite general and could be applied to any kind of ship, because it does not require the prior knowledge of any structural or mechanical parameter of the ship. It is based only on the results of manoeuvrability data contained in the Manoeuvring Booklet, which in turn is filled out after sea trials of the ship performed before his delivery to the owner. We developed this method to support the investigations around the Costa Concordia shipwreck, which happened near the shores of Italy in January 2012. It was then validated against the data recorded in the “black box” of the ship, from which we have been able to extract an entire week of voyage data before the shipwreck. The aim was investigating the possibility of avoiding the impact by performing an evasive manoeuvre (as ordered by the Captain some seconds before the impact, but allegedly misunderstood by the helmsman). The preliminary validation step showed a good matching between simulated and real values (course and heading of the ship) for a time interval of a few minutes. The fact that the method requires only the results registered in the VDR (Voyage Data Recorder) during sea trial tests, makes it very useful for several applications. Among them, we can cite forensic investigation, the development of components for autopilots, the prediction of the effects of a given manoeuvre in shallow water, the “a posteriori” verification of the correctness of a given manoeuvre and the use in training simulators for ship pilots and masters

Annual General Assembly of the International Association of Maritime Universities

978-84-947311-7-

FSA Based Analysis of Deck Officers’ Non-Technical Skills in Crisis Situations

A review of maritime accidents conducted in 2006 confirms that human error is the main contributing factor in maritime accidents. This study illustrates that major maritime accidents are not caused by technical problems but by failure of the crew to respond to the situation appropriately.Non-technical skills (NTS) encompass both interpersonal and cognitive skills such as situation awareness, teamwork, decision-making, leadership, managerial skills, communication and language skills, etc. In a crisis situation good NTS allow the deck officers to recognise a problem quickly and manage the situation and team safely and effectively. As a result, the evaluation and grading of deck officers’ NTS is necessary to assure safety at sea.This research aims to identify the links between maritime accidents and deck officers’ NTS and identifies significant criteria and their contributions to the deck officers’ NTS by using the Formal Safety Assessment concept. Taxonomy of deck officers’ non-technical skills was developed by conducting interviews with experts and collecting NTS weighting data for calculating each NTS weight by the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) method.Based on the taxonomy of the deck officers NTS behavioural markers were developed for the assessment of their NTS in the bridge simulator. A set of bridge simulator crisis scenarios was developed to assess deck officers’ NTS.Two sets of Chief Mate volunteer students’ NTS performance was assessed in the bridge simulator. One set of students are those who have not obtained NTS training i.e. HELM (Human Element Leadership and Management) and the other set of students are those who have obtained the HELM training as part of their main course of study. All groups’ NTS performances are calculated by the ER (Evidential Reasoning) Algorithm and are compared to see if there are any improvements in the NTS performance with the HELM training. After comparison it was found that NTS performance of the groups with HELM training was only 0.8% better than the NTS performance of the groups without HELM training.HELM course effectiveness is evaluated and suggestions are given for further improvements to the course. Cost benefit analysis for improving deck officers’ NTS was carried out by Bayesian Network and Decision Tree Model

HUMAN FACTORS IN MARITIME TRANSPORTATION AND MENTAL WORKLOAD ANALYSES FOR SEAFARERS IN BRIDGE SIMULATION

Since the United States Coast Guard (USCG) reported in 1993 that human factors had essentially caused approximately 80% of maritime accidents and near misses, there has been an overwhelming understanding that human factors play a significant role in a considerable number of incidents or catastrophes by triggering chain events. The work has initially documented a literature review underlining human factors in maritime accidents, mental workload study and functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) technique to imply how it can be studied for human factors in maritime transportation. It investigates how different risk factors generate an impact on different types of human-related maritime transportation accidents using a data-driven approach, and how mental workload influences neurophysiological activation and decision- making of seafarers by conducting an experimental study in bridge simulation. The results of the developed models formalise the causal interdependencies between the risk factors with human factors perspectives and highlight the implications through scenario analyses. On the other hand, the findings of the fNIRS experimental study revealed the role of the prefrontal cortex and functional connectivity in watchkeeping and collision avoidance during maritime operations. It is concluded that the understanding of risk factors contributing to human errors will help reduce the risk level or eliminate the potential hazards of ships, and provide the clue for accident investigation and generate insights for accident prevention. Also, the experimental study supports fNIRS as a valuable neuroimaging technique in realistic situations. It examines the mental workload and functional connectivity of seafarers, which helps generate insights for human performance and seafarers’ training. Finally, the inclusion of a broader range of human factors and experimental methods shows promise by associating neurophysiological experiment in the maritime section

A Ship Motion Short-Term Time Domain Simulator and Its Application to Costa Concordia Emergency Manoeuvres Just Before the January 2012 Accident

In this paper we will present a simple but reliable methodology for short term prediction of a cruise ship behaviour during manoeuvres. The methodology is quite general and could be applied to any kind of ship, because it does not require the prior knowledge of any structural or mechanical parameter of the ship. It is based only on the results of manoeuvrability data contained in the Manoeuvring Booklet, which in turn is filled out after sea trials of the ship performed before his delivery to the owner. We developed this method to support the investigations around the Costa Concordia shipwreck, which happened near the shores of Italy in January 2012. It was then validated against the data recorded in the “black box” of the ship, from which we have been able to extract an entire week of voyage data before the shipwreck. The aim was investigating the possibility of avoiding the impact by performing an evasive manoeuvre (as ordered by the Captain some seconds before the impact, but allegedly misunderstood by the helmsman). The preliminary validation step showed a good matching between simulated and real values (course and heading of the ship) for a time interval of a few minutes. The fact that the method requires only the results registered in the VDR (Voyage Data Recorder) during sea trial tests, makes it very useful for several applications. Among them, we can cite forensic investigation, the development of components for autopilots, the prediction of the effects of a given manoeuvre in shallow water, the “a posteriori” verification of the correctness of a given manoeuvre and the use in training simulators for ship pilots and masters