[BITList] Fwd: Extract from Lloyd's List

Sun Aug 5 19:49:30 BST 2018


------ Original Message ------
From: "michael J Feltham" <ismay at mjfeltham.plus.com>
To:
Sent: 05/08/2018 08:51:46
Subject: [BITList] Fwd: Extract from Lloyd's List

>This is from a correspondent from Lloyd’s List.  An ex seafarer.
>
>Mike
>—————————————————————————————————————
>
>Viewpoint: Mind in neutral
>>By : Michael Grey
>>
>>WHY on earth do well-found ships, properly manned by certificated 
>>officers and crews, manage to run aground or collide, in circumstances 
>>that seem to defy rational explanation?
>>
>>There seems little excuse, in an era when circling satellites provide 
>>all the positioning data those on board a ship might need. It was 
>>understandable in the days of dead reckoning and before the all-seeing 
>>eye of radar. But the equipment on a modern ship, if properly set up 
>>and diligently used, ought to make such casualties impossible. It is 
>>by no means an original suggestion, but may the versatility and 
>>capability of the equipment itself contribute to the human navigator, 
>>or engineer for that matter, just losing concentration? And then, when 
>>an unforeseen hazard occurs, failing to put a mind that is coasting 
>>along in neutral, back into an operational gear? If we are relegating 
>>a ship’s officer, who has probably passed all sorts of statutory 
>>examinations, to the role of a mere overseer of smart machines, how 
>>can an intelligent person remain focused?
>>
>>More years ago than I care to remember, when I was serving an 
>>apprenticeship at sea, we were forced to relieve the quartermaster on 
>>the wheel for a two-hour stretch from 0600 hrs every morning. Quite 
>>what it was supposed to teach us I cannot recall, other than patience 
>>and fortitude, as it was one of the most mind-numbingly boring jobs 
>>you could imagine on a deepsea passage. Just keeping the wretched ship 
>>on course, half-asleep and looking forward to a large breakfast, was a 
>>real challenge of concentration. The occasional sarcastic question 
>>from the Second Mate, looking up from his star calculations, to find 
>>the ship falling off the course and the gyro ticking away 
>>reproachfully, was a reminder that I really was not cut out for the 
>>job. “Trying to write your name in the sea, Grey?” It is why automatic 
>>steering machinery was invented.Vigilance and attention are important 
>>qualities. Those involved in search and rescue operations are 
>>regularly relieved from their visual or radar lookouts because it is 
>>known concentration wanes after about 20 minutes. It is the same with 
>>air traffic control operators, whose lapse in attention could be 
>>fatal. Maybe we should learn from these roles. There is a debate about 
>>whether the “driver-assist” features on the latest high-end road 
>>vehicles are too clever for their own good, easing the job of driving 
>>to such an extent that concentration lapses. Anyone with half a brain, 
>>who is not making or selling cars for a living, can see this problem a 
>>mile off.
>>
>
>>Devices that ought to be banned
>>One can only hope that before too many people meet an untimely end on 
>>our roads, something may be done about this, because anything that 
>>distracts the driver from the main task of keeping the car safe is 
>>potentially lethal. It ought also to divert our regulators from their 
>>current enthusiasm for “driverless” vehicles, before too much 
>>taxpayers’ money is shovelled into this fatal project. Devices that 
>>minimise the need for concentration, permitting the mind to wander and 
>>even to become engaged on other tasks, ought to be banned, whether we 
>>are talking about a “self-driving” truck or a large ship with 
>>equipment that removes all the actual work from sentient human beings 
>>aboard. Initially, automation on land or sea was regarded as wholly 
>>positive, as it removed the need for people to be engaged in boring, 
>>repetitive work that they probably could not do as well as a machine. 
>>The people could be doing something more useful. But on the bridge or 
>>machinery space of a ship, if the watchkeepers have to be there, they 
>>are better engaged with the main task of navigating and collision 
>>avoidance, and not relegated to “long stop”, overseeing the equipment 
>>that is doing all the work and intervening only when it breaks down. 
>>Casualty after casualty reveals the person whose attention might have 
>>averted the incident was either suffering from a wandering mind, or 
>>possibly even asleep, as there was little to keep them awake in this 
>>supine role of overseer.
>>Casualty investigators often cite “complacency”, but I would suggest 
>>that a “mind in neutral”, lulled into a semi-comatose state of 
>>non-intervention is as often to blame. What is the point of this 
>>equipment, with its need for frequent updates, its cost and 
>>complexity, if it contributes to this state of “operator” 
>>non-involvement? Might actual practice demonstrate the negatives 
>>outweigh the positives?
>>You will not get any of the clever folk developing and manufacturing 
>>this equipment to admit this, because they energetically lobby the 
>>International Maritime Organization to persuade it that fitting their 
>>latest all singing, all dancing gizmo should be made mandatory. I 
>>recall a friendship of many years with a chief sales manager of 
>>navigational equipment being somewhat strained when I suggested he 
>>should wire up watchkeepers to electrodes and give them electric 
>>shocks to keep them concentrating, such were the tasks his latest 
>>“integrated navigator” was removing from their roles. I suggest the 
>>rule makers ought only to listen to those who actually run ships for a 
>>living before letting the manufacturers into the IMO building. But I 
>>doubt that this will happen. Unlike those people at sea, trying to 
>>stay awake and focused, the vested interests never lose their 
>>concentration.source: lloydslist
>>
>>
>>
>
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