An evaluation of low-level automation navigation functions upon vessel traffic services work practices

The Sea Traffic Management (STM) Validation Project is a European-based initiative with ambitions to improve maritime safety and efficiency through information sharing in real time. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the “STM services,” which can be categorized as low-level automated functions designed to improve information exchange between ship and shore. Full-scale simulated scenarios were developed and tested on 16 professional vessel traffic service (VTS) operators comparing VTS operations as they are today with the added STM functionality. Data collection involved observations which assessed the frequency and type of interactions between ships and VTS, followed by questionnaires to provide an overall assessment of the user experience. The results indicate that the frequency and method of communication patterns between VTS operators and ships will be affected by the integration of the STM services. Additional access to navigational information could change the role of VTS operators in traffic situations compared with traditional operations. This paper discusses the findings from a socio-technical systems perspective while also addressing the individual STM services and their potential impact on VTS operations. This research provides valuable information for European VTS centers that could be affected by the implementation of e-Navigation and, specifically, the STM services

Risk factors and navigation accidents: A historical analysis comparing accident-free and accident-prone vessels using indicators from AIS data and vessel databases

This paper presents the results of an explorative analysis aiming to identify indicators and factors associated with navigation accidents (groundings and collisions). The analysis compares cargo vessels with at least one registered navigation accident (grounding or collision) within Norwegian waters with those that have none, in the period 2010–2019. The comparison is made using data based on automatic identification system (AIS) satellite data in combination with information from IHS Fairplay, to construct indicators that reflect different characteristics of the vessels. Hallmarks of vessels involved in navigation accidents have been identified using bivariate and multivariate statistical analysis. The multivariate model was a strong predictor of vessels' accident involvement with 44% of the variance explained. Indicators that predicted reported navigation accidents included: (1) vessel type, (2) higher age, (3) smaller size, (4) longer distance sailed, (5) higher average speed, (6) flying Norwegian flag, (7) gray or black Tokyo MoU rating, and 8) not on US Coast Guard target list. The results are discussed relative to their potential causes as well as limits and practical applications. The study shows the promising potential of utilizing AIS data combined with various data sets to obtain knowledge on risk factors and risk indicators.publishedVersio

Automated Functions: Their Potential for Impact Upon Maritime Sociotechnical Systems

The shipping industry is evolving towards an unknown and unpredictable future. There is speculation that in the next two decades the maritime industry will witness changes far exceeding those experienced over the past 100 years. The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), big data, automation and their impacts upon fully autonomous ships have the potential to transform the maritime industry. While change is inevitable in the maritime domain, automated solutions do not guarantee navigational safety, efficiency or improved seaway traffic management. Such dramatic change also calls for a more systematic approach to designing, evaluating and adopting new solutions into a system. Although intended to support operator decision-making needs and reduce operator workload, the outcomes might create unforeseen changes throughout other aspects of the maritime sociotechnical system. In the maritime industry, the human is seldom put first in technology design which paradoxically introduces human-automation challenges related to technology acceptance, use, trust, reliance and risk. The co-existence and challenges of humans and automation, as it pertains to navigation and navigational assistance, is explored throughout this licentiate.\ua0This thesis considers the Sea Traffic Management (STM) Validation Project \ua0as the context to examine low-level automation functions intended to enhance operator (both Navigators and Vessel Traffic Service Operators) navigational safety and efficiency. The STM functions are designed to improve information sharing between ships and from ship to shore such as: route sharing, enhanced monitoring, and route crosschecking. The licentiate is built on two different data collection efforts during 2017-2018 within the STM Validation project. The functions were tested on two user groups: Bridge Officers and Vessel Traffic Service Operators. All testing was completed in high-fidelity bridge simulators using traffic scenarios developed by subject matter experts.The aim of this licentiate is to study the impact of low levels of automation on operator behavior, and to explore the broader impact upon the maritime sociotechnical system. A mixed-method approach was selected to address these questions and included the following: observations, questionnaires, numerical assessment of ship behavior, and post-simulation debrief group sessions. To analyze and discuss the data, grounded theory, subject matter expert consultation, and descriptive statistics were used. The results point towards a disruption in current working practices for both ship and shore operators, and an uncertainty about the overall impact of low-level automation on operator behaviour. Using a sociotechnical systems approach, gaps have been identified related to new technology testing and implementation. These gaps relate to the overall preparedness of the shipping industry to manage the evolution towards smarter ships. The findings discussed in this licentiate aim to promote further discussions about a quickly evolving industry concerning automation integration in shipping and the potential impact on human performance in safety critical operations

Towards an understanding of the consequences of technology-driven decision support for maritime navigation

The maritime industry is undergoing a transformation driven by digitalization and connectivity. There is speculation that in the next two decades the maritime industry will witness changes far exceeding those experienced over the past 100 years. While change is inevitable in the maritime domain, technological developments do not guarantee navigational safety, efficiency, or improved seaway traffic management. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted the Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) concept to define autonomy on a scale from Degrees 1 through 4.\ua0 Investigations into the impact of MASS on various aspects of the maritime sociotechnical system is currently ongoing by academic and industry stakeholders. However, the early adoption of MASS (Degree 1), which is classified as a crewed ship with decision support, remains largely unexplored. Decision support systems are intended to support operator decision-making and improve operator performance. In practice they can cause unintended changes throughout other elements of the maritime sociotechnical system. In the maritime industry, the human is seldom put first in technology design which paradoxically introduces human-automation challenges related to technology acceptance, use, trust, reliance, and risk. The co-existence of humans and automation, as it pertains to navigation and navigational assistance, is explored throughout this thesis. The aims of this thesis are (1) to understand how decision support will impact navigation and navigational assistance from the operator’s perspective and (2) to explore a framework to help reduce the gaps between the design and use of decision support technologies. This thesis advocates for a human-centric approach to automation design and development while exploring the broader impacts upon the maritime sociotechnical system. This work considers three different projects and four individual data collection efforts during 2017-2022. This research took place in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Warsash, UK and includes data from 65 Bridge Officers (navigators) and 16 Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) operators. Two testbeds were used to conduct the research in several full mission bridge simulators, and a virtual reality environment. A mixed methods approach, with a heavier focus on qualitative data, was adopted to understand the research problem. Methodological tools included literature reviews, observations, questionnaires, ship maneuvering data, collective interviews, think-aloud protocol, and consultation with subject matter experts. The data analysis included thematic analysis, subject matter expert consultation, and descriptive statistics.\ua0The results show that operators perceive that decision support will impact their work, but not necessarily as expected. The operators’ positive and negative perceptions are discussed within the frameworks of human-automation interaction, decision-making, and systems thinking. The results point towards gaps in work as it is intended to be done and work as it is done in the user’s context. A user-driven design framework is proposed which allows for a systematic, flexible, and iterative design process capable of testing new technologies while involving all stakeholders. These results have led to the identification of several research gaps in relation to the overall preparedness of the shipping industry to manage the evolution toward smarter ships. This thesis will discuss these findings and advocate for human-centered automation within the quickly evolving maritime industry

Encouraging password manager adoption by meeting adopter self-determination needs

Password managers are a potential solution to the password conundrum, but adoption is paltry. We investigated the impact of a recommender application that harnessed the tenets of self-determination theory to encourage adoption of password managers. This theory argues that meeting a person's autonomy, relatedness and competence needs will make them more likely to act. To test the power of meeting these needs, we conducted a factorial experiment, in the wild. We satisfied each of the three self determination factors, and all individual combinations thereof, and observed short-term adoption of password managers. The Android recommender application was used by 470 participants, who were randomly assigned to one of the experimental or control conditions. Our analysis revealed that when all self-determination factors were satisfied, adoption was highest, while meeting only the autonomy or relatedness needs individually significantly improved the likelihood of adoption

Heads Up! Supporting Maritime Navigation using Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that shows potential for the improvement of maritime safety. Today, the ship bridge suffers from a lack of standardization and integration. Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) may alleviate these challenges by showing information when relevant and enhancing operator mobility. Microsoft HoloLens 2 (HL2) is such a HMD. Prior research shows the potential of HMDs in the Maritime AR domain (Rowen et al., 2019). Limited research has been conducted however on the design of AR User Interfaces (UIs) for maritime applications leveraging HMDs. As a result, no framework exists to test new UI designs in the real world, which is necessary due to many variables that cannot be accurately modelled in a lab setting. This led to the research questions (RQs) 1. What makes an effective head-mounted AR UI for maritime navigation? (RQ1); and 2. How can HL2 be used as a ship bridge system? (RQ2) A Research through Design (RtD) process is detailed where a UI design and functional prototype was developed in collaboration with end-users. The prototype, named Sjør, implements the aforementioned interface, provides a framework for in-context UI testing and can be viewed as the next step towards standardizing AR UIs for the maritime industry. The design and development process led to three contributions to the Maritime AR domain. Firstly, a framework for the visualization of location-based data about points of interest on predefined canvases co-located in the real world was developed (Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6), which runs on the HL2. This first contribution is defined in Section 4 and provides an answer to RQ2. Secondly, using this framework, an interface design (including interactions) is developed in collaboration with end-users and proposed as an answer to RQ1. This process is described in Section 5. The third contribution is a research agenda which provides insights into how contemporary and future research can leverage the developed framework. Section 7 discloses this research agenda.Master's Thesis in Interaction and Media DesignMIX350MASV-MI

Maturing International Cooperation to Address the Cyberspace Attack Attribution Problem

One of the most significant challenges to deterring attacks in cyberspace is the difficulty of identifying and attributing attacks to specific state or non-state actors. The lack of technical detection capability moves the problem into the legal realm; however, the lack of domestic and international cyberspace legislation makes the problem one of international cooperation. Past assessments have led to collective paralysis pending improved technical and legal advancements. This paper demonstrates, however, that any plausible path to meaningful defense in cyberspace must include a significant element of international cooperation and regime formation. The analytical approach diverges from past utilitarian-based assessments to understand the emerging regime, or implicit and explicit principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures, around which actor expectations are beginning to converge in the area of cyberspace attack attribution. The analysis applies a social-practice perspective of regime formation to identify meaningful normative and political recommendations. Various hypotheses of regime formation further tailor the recommendations to the current maturity level of international cooperation in this issue area. Examining international cooperation in cyberspace and methods for maturing international cooperation to establish attribution in other domains inform political mitigations to the problem of cyberspace attack attribution. Potential solutions are analyzed with respect to four recent cyberspace attacks to illustrate how improved international cooperation might address the problem. Finally, a counterfactual analysis, or thought experiment, of how these recommendations might have been applied in the case of rampant Chinese cyber espionage inform specific current and future opportunities for implementation. Although timing is difficult to predict, the growing frequency and scope of cyber attacks indicate the window of opportunity to address the problem before some form of cataclysmic event is closing

The effect of nonconformities encountered in the use of technology on the occurrence of collision, contact and grounding accidents

Technology and its innovative applications make life easier and reduce the workload on seafarers. Today's ship bridges have much more modern and integrated navigation systems than before, and the ship's handling and management have become much easier. However, nonconformities encountered in the use of technological devices may cause accidents. In this study, the effect of human factor related errors associated with the use of the bridge's electronic navigational devices on grounding and collision-contact accidents was investigated. Non-conformities obtained from 175 collision-contact and 115 grounding accident reports were qualitatively analysed by means of human factor analysis and a classification system. Afterwards, relationships between nonconformities and their probabilities were evaluated quantitatively via a Bayesian network method. As a result of the study, the accident network was revealed. This accident network summarizes how operating errors in the use of technological equipment cause accidents. Recommendations on the prevention of accidents caused by operating errors associated with the use of new technologies are finally given