Improving situation awareness during safety-critical navigation: 
A study on cognitive challenges and factors affecting decision-making of maritime pilots

Παρίση, Στυλιανή; Parisi, Styliani

dc.contributor.author	Παρίση, Στυλιανή	el
dc.contributor.author	Parisi, Styliani	en
dc.date.accessioned	2024-05-23T12:31:31Z
dc.date.available	2024-05-23T12:31:31Z
dc.identifier.uri	https://dspace.lib.ntua.gr/xmlui/handle/123456789/59457
dc.identifier.uri	http://dx.doi.org/10.26240/heal.ntua.27153
dc.rights	Αναφορά Δημιουργού-Μη Εμπορική Χρήση 3.0 Ελλάδα	*
dc.rights	Αναφορά Δημιουργού-Μη Εμπορική Χρήση-Όχι Παράγωγα Έργα 3.0 Ελλάδα	*
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/gr/	*
dc.subject	Decision making	en
dc.subject	Situation awareness	en
dc.subject	Maritime navigation	en
dc.subject	Fuzzy cognitive maps	en
dc.subject	Cognitive task analysis	en
dc.subject	Ναυσιπλοΐα	el
dc.subject	Επίγνωση κατάστασης	el
dc.subject	Λήψη αποφάσεων	el
dc.subject	Θαλάσσια πλοήγηση	el
dc.subject	Γ Γνωστική ανάλυση εργασίας	el
dc.title	Improving situation awareness during safety-critical navigation: A study on cognitive challenges and factors affecting decision-making of maritime pilots	en
heal.type	doctoralThesis
heal.secondaryTitle	Βελτίωση της επίγνωσης κατάστασης σε κρίσιμες για την ασφάλεια καταστάσεις ναυσιπλοΐας: Μελέτη γνωσιακών προκλήσεων και παραγόντων που επηρεάζουν τη λήψη αποφάσεων των πλοηγών	el
heal.classification	Εργονομία	el
heal.classification	Ergonomics	el
heal.classification	Επιστήμες Μηχανικού και Τεχνολογίας	el
heal.classification	Engineering and Technology	en
heal.language	en
heal.access	free
heal.recordProvider	ntua	el
heal.publicationDate	2023-11-29
heal.abstract	Modern navigation is an inherently complex cognitive process that requires mariners to process an increasing amount of information while performing navigational tasks. Within confined waters, the ship bridge crew collaborate with maritime pilots, experienced master mariners familiar with local waters, to ensure safe vessel passage. In these waterways, overtaking situations are frequent, requiring precise, rapid manoeuvres often under operational and time pressure. Approximately 90% of marine accidents are reported in confined waterways and are frequently linked to poor decision-making, often caused by a lack of situation awareness. Despite the technological advances in the design of navigational assistance systems and the automation of many procedures, navigation errors still occur, due to misinterpretations or misunderstandings of the signals provided by technological aids and nearly no automation support is available for complex manoeuvres such as overtaking. To design systems supporting safe navigation in demanding and critical manoeuvres, it is crucial to understand the dynamic and complex work domain of sea pilotage. This thesis contributes to the field of maritime pilotage by investigating in depth the pilots' decision-making processes during overtaking manoeuvres in restricted fairways. The thesis systematically explores the cognitive elements that influence the decision making and situation awareness of maritime pilots during overtaking. Lastly, the research presents a cognitive model of the factors that marine pilots consider during their decision-making process and the way these factors affect safe overtaking. The thesis consists of three studies. The first study comprehensively investigated maritime pilots' work activities through a series of training sessions, open structured interviews with expert mariners, review of accidents and field observations on board of cargo vessels. The focus of the research activities was to obtain familiarization with various types of ship bridge environments and manoeuvring, and to develop ethnographic interpretations of experience and work. The results contribute to expanding the knowledge on the pilots’ goals, values, motivations and beliefs, their competencies, how their work is affected by organisational, operational, and environmental aspects, and how pilotage is integrated in the larger work setting of ship navigation. The findings provided a foundation for a case study on overtaking in the Bremerhaven port region in Germany, that facilitated the subsequent two studies. The aim of the second study was to obtain a detailed description of the overtaking manoeuvre and to understand the cognitive processes of mariners when they perform this task in the fairway of the Bremerhaven port region. To achieve this, a qualitative study was designed using an adaptation of Applied Cognitive Task Analysis (ACTA) to interview five highly experienced sea pilots in northern Germany. The ACTA identified six phases of the overtaking task and twelve high level cognitive challenges affecting pilots’ decision making and situation awareness. The main contribution of this study is a Cognitive Demands Table that summarizes these findings, including challenges, errors, strategies, and cues. The third study sought to assess and model the factors influencing the pilots in their decision to overtake with safety. Using the same case study, scenario simulation interviews and Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) techniques with four expert pilots were applied to understand the concepts and decision criteria and how they contribute to safe overtaking. The results revealed the significant influence of environmental, ship-related, traffic, human, and organizational factors, along with their intricate interconnections, and how these affect pilots in their decision for safe overtaking. The final FCM and the findings were assessed and validated in a final workshop with three expert sea pilots. Overall, this thesis provided valuable insights into decision-making, expertise in pilotage, ship bridge systems design, operational procedures, and pilot training. Additionally, the findings contributed to the development of the FCM model that may be used to guide future research on human factors in pilotage, automation support and reduction of cognitive load during critical manoeuvres.	el
heal.advisorName	Ναθαναήλ, Δημήτριος	el
heal.advisorName	Nathanael, Dimitrios	en
heal.committeeMemberName	Μαρμαράς, Νικόλαος	el
heal.committeeMemberName	Κηρυττόπουλος, Κωνσταντίνος	el
heal.committeeMemberName	Πόνης, Σταύρος	el
heal.committeeMemberName	Μπεχτσής, Δημήτριος	el
heal.committeeMemberName	Κοντογιάννης, Θωμάς	el
heal.committeeMemberName	Παπακωστόπουλος, Βασίλειος	el
heal.academicPublisher	Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο. Σχολή Μηχανολόγων Μηχανικών. Τομέας Βιομηχανικής Διοίκησης και Επιχειρησιακής Έρευνας	el
heal.academicPublisherID	ntua
heal.fullTextAvailability	false