A Study on the Modernization of Merchant Ships with Reduced Crew Members Today and Future Bridge Installations and Information Processing Systems for ship Operation

A variety of systems have been developed under a national project to modernize merchant ships served by a reduced number of crew members, and the navigation systems, machinery and cargo handling systems in these ships are controlled from the navigation bridge in an integral manner. In an age when modernized equipment and installations are being introduced along with the striking development of electronic techniques, ship manoeuvring itself is still left to the hands of operators on the bridge. Whether or not increasing information is properly processed has a vital impact directly upon the safety of a ship's operation. Trends towards the greater modernization of shipboard installations and equipment to be operated by a fewer crewmembers are obviously pointing to the ultimate goal of one-man control from the bridge. When one comes to grip with the circumstances surrounding the shipping business today, we must recognize the importance of promoting the modernization by grasping the need to control ship installations and information, and the shipboard environment which is also serving as a living environment for ship's operator from the standpoint of an integrated man-machine system, while conducting sufficient assessments on such a system through an ergonomic approach as well. In this paper, several issues related to the arrangement of bridge installations and information processing systems are discussed while paying due regard to the current state of the modernization of shipboard equipment and installations associated with a fewer crew ships.