On the use of leading safety indicators in maritime and their feasibility for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships

Abstract

Although the safety of prospective Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships will largely depend on their ability to detect potential hazards and react to them, the contemporary scientific literature lacks the analysis of how to achieve this. This could be achieved through an application of leading safety indicators. The aim of the performed study was to identify the research directions of leading safety indicators in three safety-critical operational aspects of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships: collision avoidance, intact stability, and communication. To achieve this, literature review is performed, taking into account scientific documents including journal and conference papers. The results indicate that the need for establishing operational leading safety indicators is recognized by numerous scholars, who sometimes make suggestions of what the set of indicators shall consist of. Some leading safety indicators for autonomous vessels are readily identifiable in the scientific literature and used in current practice. However, the research effort is lacking a holistic approach to the issue.

A Cross-Domain Scientometric Analysis of Situational Awareness of Autonomous Vehicles With Focus on the Maritime Domain

“…As seen in Figure 5, the earliest appearing keywords until 2012 concerned general terms such as 'human-robot interaction' (20 occurrences), 'unmanned (vehicle)' ( 16), 'supervision' (13), or 'robotics' (5). With time, some less robot-related and more automation-and autonomy-oriented keywords started to occur more frequently, such as: 'autonomy' ( 19), 'autonomous' ( 9), and 'autonomous systems' (8). Subsequently, research appears to have concentrated on aspects related to the specific modes of transportation.…”

“…While this allows for transferring the operator's attention to different tasks, there still remains a question about the role and performance of human intervention in the system. Of particular importance are situations where specific external or internal conditions are met, which cannot be handled by an automated control system [8]. In such cases, a hand-over of control to the operator is required to maintain the safety of the system [9].…”

Bow Crossing Range Correlation of Small Vessels – AIS Data Analysis with Prospective Application to Autonomous Ships

“…Regardless of the degree to which this can actually be achieved, independence from human cognitive processes would require a substitute. To this end, autonomous decisions will need to be based on measurable criteria for a vast quantity of processes within the autonomous maritime system [Wróbel et al 2021], including collision avoidance.…”

Editorial for the special issue on the International Workshop on Autonomous System Safety (IWASS)

“…In addition to V&V methods, demonstrating the safety of autonomous systems can leverage from safety indicators. Wrobel et al 4 identify research directions of leading safety indicators in three safety-critical operational aspects of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships: collision avoidance, intact stability, and communication. A critical literature review indicates that the need for establishing operational leading safety indicators.…”

“…A critical literature review indicates that the need for establishing operational leading safety indicators. Wrobel et al 4 argue that research efforts lack a holistic approach to the issue.…”