Manoeuvring areas to adapt ACAS for the maritime domain

Rapidly increasing numbers of ships and ship sizes pose an ever-growing challenge to the maritime industry. Although statistics indicate improved levels of safety in the industry which carries 90% of the world’s trade, the risk of navigational accidents, among other issues, remains a prime concern and priority (EMSA, 2010; 2014). In order to address these concerns, the authors turned to another high-risk industry for inspiration. Specifically, they turned to the aviation industry, which has often been used as a source of comparisons and ideas by researchers in the maritime domain. Keeping up with the trend, the authors of this paper turn to a tried-and-tested system used widely in modern aviation: the Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS). The prime idea behind ACAS is to construct two virtual 3D zones around an aircraft. These zones are dynamic, and depend on the manoeuvring characteristics of a given aircraft. If the system detects an “intruder” (another aircraft) in either of the two well-defined virtual zones, it provides warnings and/or instructions to pilots of both aircraft to take certain precautionary or emergency measures. In the current paper, the authors explore whether or not such a system is feasible for use in the maritime domain and, if so, how. The paper provides a detailed analysis of the potential benefits and drawbacks of using an ACAS-like system onboard vessels. It also discusses possible means of implementation and integration with current equipment, and explores how the introduction of e-navigation may impact the proposed solution

Managing the ship movements in the Port of Venice

The new mobile gates at the inlets of the Venice lagoon and the new previous environmental laws issued in response of the Costa Concordia wreckage in 2012 have forced the Port Authority of Venice to rethink the harbor activities. In this paper, we tackle the Port Scheduling Problem that the Port Authority faces in scheduling both ships' and tugs' movements within its canal harbor in this new context. We introduce the problem, explain which data it needs, and provide the description of an original heuristic algorithm for its solution. Finally, we present some practical applications

A study of a technological development process: Human factors—the forgotten factors?

Author's accepted version (post-print).The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10111-016-0379-x.Available from 31/05/2017.The aim of this study was to explore how human factors were taken into account in the development of a new type of drilling equipment. This study is part of a larger project on the understanding of human factors in the design and implementation of automated drilling technology. The principal study was a longitudinal study lasting 4 years that involved 43 interviews, offshore and onshore observations, and two surveys. The analysis in this paper is based on seven informants who were either part of the design team or the paramount project team developing new automated drilling technology for an offshore oil- and gas-producing installation in the same development project, in addition to project documents. The informants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, and grounded theory based on the coding process of Strauss and Corbin (Basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage, Newbury Park, 1990) was used to analyse the data. The core category was found to be insufficient human factor analyses performed in the development phase due to the two main categories, namely (1) insufficient information coordination and (2) narrow focus in different phases of the project. This was found to contribute to increased costs, low user-friendliness, and end users’ insufficient knowledge of safe usage and potential risks. Our conclusion was that homogenous top competence involving technical aspects contributed to developers’ lack of understanding of the need for sufficient analyses of end user requirements and of the tasks that would be affected by the new technology. Hence, we argue that technological development could benefit from including human factors experts from the project’s outset to bridge the gap between the lack of relevant information and sufficient information on which to base development decisions. In addition, we contend that performing human factors analyses throughout the development of a project would be beneficial due to the potential of hindering cultural aspects such as a non-questioning culture, which is viewed as a hazard in high-risk organizations