Integrated Bridge System Situational Awareness Under Degraded Sensor Conditions: A Human Factors Analysis for Deck Officer Competency Development
Keywords:
Integrated Bridge System; situational awareness; degraded sensor conditions; human factors; deck officer competencyAbstract
The progressive consolidation of navigational instruments into Integrated Bridge Systems (IBS) has fundamentally transformed the sensory and cognitive architecture of modern maritime watch-keeping, creating a paradox of technological sophistication: while IBS enhances navigational efficiency under nominal operating conditions, it simultaneously generates profound human factors vulnerabilities when sensor inputs degrade, fail, or are intentionally disrupted. Despite the safety-critical nature of this vulnerability, empirical human factors research specifically addressing deck officer situational awareness under degraded IBS sensor conditions — particularly in the context of GPS spoofing, radar shadowing, and AIS anomalies — remains insufficiently developed in the maritime research literature. This study investigates the human factors dimensions of IBS situational awareness degradation among deck officers at Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Pelayaran (STIP) Jakarta, Indonesia, examining how officers perceive, respond to, and recover from degraded sensor scenarios in simulator-based environments. Employing a qualitative research design, data were generated through semi-structured interviews with senior deck officers, navigation simulation instructors, and maritime human factors experts, supplemented by structured observation of IBS simulator degradation scenario sessions. Analysis proceeded through thematic analysis, cross-group comparison, and narrative synthesis. Findings reveal four critical human factors failure patterns under degraded IBS conditions: automation complacency, cross-verification skill atrophy, alert saturation mismanagement, and manual navigation competency erosion — all of which are systematically underprepared for within current STCW-aligned deck officer training curricula. The study proposes a competency-based degraded operations training framework as a principled response to these findings, with direct implications for maritime simulator curriculum design and STCW competency standard revision.
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