In high-risk environments of seafaring, simulators constitute a widely used tool in preparing nauticalstudents for the challenges to be met in real-life working situations. While the technical developmentof ship bridge simulators continues at a breathtaking pace, little is known on how developments fulfiltheir intended safety critical purpose during actual simulator training exercises.In order to investigate this, a mixed-methods quasi-experimental field study (N =6) was conductedaiming at discerning the systemic causes behind committed human errors and to what extent thesecauses can be related to the technical layout of the simulator in general and a decision supportingdisplay in particular. The nautical students’ performance in terms of committed errors was analysedwhen the decision supporting display was either inactive or active during two different exercisebatches. Drawing upon eye tracking evaluation, interviews and simulator video recordings, systemiccauses leading to human errors were identified. Results indicate that all errors occur under the samekind of (stressful) interaction. Based on this design requirements aiming at promoting resilient crewbehaviour were proposed

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / This study identifies factors affecting the performance of commercial-off-the-shelf speech recognition software (SRS) when used for ship control purposes. After a review of research in the feasibility and acceptability of SRS-based ship control, the paper examines the effects of: "A restricted vocabulary versus a large vocabulary," Low experience level conning officers versus high experience level conning officers, "Male versus female voices," Pre-test training on specific words versus no pre-test training. Controlled experimentation finds that: "The experience level of a conning officer has no significant impact on SRS performance." Female participants experienced more SRS errors than did their male counterparts. However, in this experiment, only a limited number of trials were available to assess a difference. "SRS with restricted vocabulary performs no better than SRS with large vocabularies." Using the software "correct as you go" feature may impact software performance. Following the user profile establishment, individual user training on two specific words reduces error rates significantly. This study concludes that SRS is a viable technology for ship control and merits further testing and evaluation. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Numerical simulations of waterjet inlets have been conducted in order to understand inlet performance during ship turning maneuvers. During turning maneuvers waterjet systems may experience low efficiency, cavitation, vibration, and noise. This study found that during turns less energy arrived at the waterjet pump relative to operating straight ahead, and that the flow field at the entrance of the waterjet pump exhibited a region of both low pressure and low axial velocity. The primary reason for the change in pump inflow uniformity is due to a streamwise vortex. In oblique inflow the hull boundary layer separates when entering the inlet and wraps up forming the streamwise vortex. These changes in pump inflow during turning maneuvers will result in increased unsteady loading of the pump rotor and early onset of pump rotor cavitation. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Det finns ekonomiska, säkerhetsmässiga och miljömässiga vinster att göra genom att tillämpa ecodriving. Tidigare forskning pekar på att transportslagen bilar, tåg och flyg har gjort stora besparingar i ekonomiskt och miljömässigt hänseende, men hur ser det ut inom sjöfarten? Med denna frågeställning som bakgrund är syftet med studien att studera intresset för ecodriving bland svenska rederier och svenska myndigheter med en fartygsflotta. Dataunderlaget för studien utgörs av material från kvalitativa intervjuer med personer i exekutiv position. Resultatet av studien visar på att de flesta verksamheterna står i startgroparna eller redan arbetar utifrån en eller flera aktivt valda metoder för ecodriving. Resultatet visar också att det finns en blandning av förutsättningar och uppfattningar om vad ecodriving är och vad det kan bli inom sjöfarten. När frågor om automatisering i samband med ecodriving behandlas är resultatet tvetydigt. / There are economical, safetylike and environmental benefits of applying eco-driving. Previous research has shown that cars, trains and aviation have made significant savings economically and environmentaly speaking, but how does that transcend into the maritime business? With this question as a background, the aim with this thesis is to examine the interest of ecodriving among Swedish shipowners and authorities. The data in this thesis is derived from qualitative interviews with employees in executive land-based positions. The result shows that several of the shipowners and authorities are in the starting pits or are already conducting one or more eco-driving methods in their operations. The result also shows that there is a variety of prerequisites and perceptions of what eco-driving is and what is could become in the future among the respondents. When questions about automatization in relation to eco-driving are brought up, the result is ambiguous.