Recent crew casualties attributable to ship collisions have prompted calls for the mandatory adoption of advanced situational awareness technology to help prevent collisions, reduce fatalities, and improve operational safety at sea.
This follows the publication of the Marine Accident Investigations Boards MAIB 2024 Annual Report, which noted: We need to radically rethink the role of human watchkeepers in the digital age. Humans do not make good monitors, and if under-stimulated, they will find other things to occupy themselves.
This was reinforced in MAIB's preliminary report on the Solong and Stena Immaculate incident in the North Sea, where the lack of real-time situational awareness contributed to the severity of events.