Tag: situational awareness

Situational Awareness is a concept that has been around in maritime for many years. The benefits associated with situational awareness are significant, with an increase in safety, task, team and organizational performance considered as the most important outcomes.

Crew members are prone to many distractions onboard; from a complex navigation bridge to high workloads while navigating their vessel through busy shipping lanes. Analysis of maritime accident reports shows that situational awareness is one of the most important safety factors, highlighting never to relax our vigilance when onboard.

History has shown that being alert onboard is a crucial element to prevent accidents from happening on board ships. The error is, of course, human and inevitable, but over the years, a more enhanced safety culture has been promoted, aiming to teach seafarers how to keep their situational awareness and ensure safe operations.

A popular technique related to situational awareness was introduced by Colonel Jeff Cooper, a United States Marine and an expert on the use and history of small arms. Originally meant for military applications, the principles of Colonel Cooper’s Color Code quickly spread to those concerned about being more aware of their environment.

As the transition towards autonomous vessel operations begins to advance, the situational awareness of the system operator is key. Thus, it is imperative that the system operator has the knowledge and understanding to be able to assess and, if required, correct any malfunction or abnormal behavior caused by the system.