Moreover, the greater the professional commitment and pride of the bridge officers, the less confidence they have in automation increasing safety at sea.
Professional pride and commitment are often deeply ingrained in seafarers, and for many, the job is more of a way of life.
New technologies will bring about major changes in the work of bridge officers, who have the ultimate responsibility on board Norwegian vessels.
However, there is strong skepticism, almost mistrust, that increased automation and autonomous (meaning self-driving) ships will contribute positively to safety,” says Asbjørn Lein Aalberg, a PhD candidate at NTNU’s Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management and SINTEF Digital.
The study ‘Pride and mistrust? The association between maritime bridge crew officers’ professional commitment and trust in autonomy’ was recently published in the WMU Journal of Maritime Affairs.
The research was conducted in collaboration with the Norwegian Maritime Authority and Safetec.
This is probably the largest survey in this field to date, both nationally and internationally.
Aalberg believes that in order for operations to be as safe as possible, employees are needed who know how to control and monitor this automation.
We need their engagement, willingness and interest to ensure that the technology and systems being developed are fit for purpose,” says the researcher.
Few women in the sample
Aalberg has taken a closer look at the answers given by captains and
navigators on board.
Collectively, this group consists of 1789 Norwegian
and 227 international bridge officers of all ages, with everything from
0 to more than 26 years of experience.
Women constitute only 11 percent
of Norwegian seafarers, and only 2.4 per cent of the participants in
this survey.
“This probably reflects the fact that there are even fewer women among the people working on the ship’s bridge,” says Aalberg. Among other things, the bridge officers were asked about:
- Their thoughts and feelings about the automation of work tasks
- Their confidence in autonomous technology
- Their professional commitment and pride
- Their own management work related to safety
Seafarers with an extreme sense of duty
Aalberg says that bridge officers are very proud of their work and exhibit what he would call a rather extreme sense of duty to their own profession.
“This pride may lead to additional mistrust when faced with radical
changes.
In fact, we found that those who take the greatest pride in
their profession are most sceptical about technological developments,”
says the researcher.
Another finding that he finds quite alarming is this: among the bridge officers who take the greatest pride in their profession, it is the younger ones who have the least faith in autonomy.
“When envisioning their future career, maybe they feel like they have more to lose,” says Aalberg.
One of the oldest professions in the world
This area has seen little research, and Aalberg says we don’t
currently know enough about why seafarers exhibit such strong mistrust.
One reason for this is that there are currently not many autonomous
ships, and they are a hot topic of speculation and debate.
It is
therefore important to emphasize that different points of view may be
based on rumors, vague impressions and unfounded notions of what the
changes will entail.
It is also often the case that autonomous vessels are spoken
positively about by individuals who are relative newcomers to the
maritime industry.
The survey indicates that this could spark
uncertainty among seafarers, both in terms of the motives and intentions
behind autonomy.
“Despite the fact that there seems to be a great need for seafarers
in the future, some people may be afraid of losing their jobs.
But I
think the skepticism is more about the changes being made to the nature
of their work.
For example, there would be a great deal of uncertainty
among captains if the position were to lose its independence.
We must
not forget that the maritime profession has a very long tradition, where
a captain’s authority and control have always been strong,” Aalberg
says.
Researcher Asbjørn Lein Aalberg hopes authorities can use the
research results in dialogue with shipping companies and technology
providers.
He says that these different groups should include seafarers
when developing new concepts and technological solutions.
Professional discretion
The PhD candidate has also interviewed 31 Norwegian seafarers on
board highly automated Norwegian passenger ferries about
their confidence in the advanced automated systems that have been
installed.
This study gives some hints about what it takes for bridge
officers to trust advanced technology.
Among other things, it relates to
their lack of trust in the machines’ ability to demonstrate true
‘seamanship’ and exercise professional discretion in traffic.
In
addition, the interviewees did not believe that the machines will manage
emergency situations well enough.
All in all, they believe that people
are best suited to making decisions in complicated situations.
“The reason they still trust autopilots and similar systems is that they themselves have control and the option to turn them on or off as and when they see fit,” Aalberg says.
The shipping company and technology developers have also had a very long and ultimately successful development process that he believes is needed to satisfy proud seafarers.
However, all the informants were skeptical about the impending changes and expressed concern that increased automation would compromise safety at sea.
Autopilot is ok, autonomy is not
The studies show that bridge officers make a clear distinction
between automation and autonomy.
Automation involves machines taking
over some of their tasks, while autonomy, taken to its ultimate
conclusion, means unmanned ships.
Aalberg provides a nuanced perspective on the development.
“Many researchers argue that humans will play a crucial role in
human-automation collaboration, even on autonomous ships.
Previously,
there was more talk about removing people altogether, to put it
bluntly,” says the researcher.
Seafarers must be consulted
He hopes the authorities can use the results of the research in
dialogue with shipping companies and technology providers.
He says they
should include seafarers when developing new concepts and technological
solutions.
“They have to make, and talk about, innovations in such a way that it sparks interest instead of skepticism,” he says.
He also believes that projects involving technological development should openly share real results from testing in order to provide a nuanced perspective of what seafarers may see as as being overly idealized.
“We also know that seafarers gain trust in advanced technology by
trying the technology themselves.
Keynote speakers or even colleagues
talking about the systems is simply not enough.
They want to try them
themselves and see if the automation makes the same choices that they
would have made, so perhaps the development process should be structured
accordingly,” Aalberg says.
Maritime Executive : Autonomous Vessels Need to be More Afraid of Dying
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