In recent years, Autonomous Surface Vehicles have secured the focus of major research and industrial initiatives around the world. Following this trend in the wake of fourth industrial revolution of oceans, Marine Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) have become the focus of numerous research. In order to shift from conventional ships to autonomous transportation, manoeuvring data collected through real-ship trials have to be available, and analysed. In this study, manoeuvring characteristics of a real ship were studied over a period of three years, data were collected and analysed to identify changes of manoeuvring characteristics over time. Real-ship data were then compared with simulation data to validate a manoeuvring simulator program. Through the real-ship experiments, not only the simulation results were validated, but also the possibility of predicting ship manoeuvrability using simulations in controlled environments was identified. In addition, the importance of accumulation of manoeuvring data in helping future designs of ships with similar characteristics is identified.

Adverse effects of intoxicated driving have been well documented over the years, with clear conclusions. In addition, it is evident that the cognitive and neurological functions and reaction times deteriorate with the consumption of alcohol. Addressing the lack of literature on the subject, this paper focuses on studying the effects of alcohol on manoeuvring, navigational and decision-making ability in ship navigation. Ten participants – five cadets and five experienced navigation officers – volunteered and carried out a standard manoeuvre using a computer-controlled vessel simulator, under three different blood alcohol concentrations (0⋅00%, 0⋅05% and 0⋅08% BAC). Results from the simulations were used to assess the performance and the decision-making ability of participants under the influence of alcohol. In addition, the responses and behaviour of the simulated vessel when the navigators were intoxicated were analysed. Workload experienced by participants during the simulations were also assessed using the NASA Task Load Index. Findings of this preliminary study proved that the ability to make the correct decisions at the right time was drastically deteriorated when the blood alcohol concentration was increased.