Risk Evaluation of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship Operations: A Formal Safety Assessment Approach

Reliability-Centered Assessment of Misreporting-Related Accident Risks in Turkish Straits Passages

Ship traffic through the Turkish Straits occurs in a highly constrained navigational environment, where inaccurate prepassage reports can significantly increase the risk of maritime accidents. Vessels are required to submit Sailing Plan declarations (SP-1 and SP-2) before entry, but these reports often fail to reflect the actual technical and operational condition of the ships. Commercial pressure, time constraints, and intentional misreporting can create discrepancies between declared and actual readiness, raising the likelihood of collisions, groundings, or loss of maneuverability in congested waters. This study develops a reliability-centered framework to assess accident risks associated with reporting, contributing to the literature on human reliability and uncertainty management in maritime traffic. Risk criteria were identified by reviewing regulatory requirements, accident records, and relevant literature, and refined through expert input from Vessel Traffic Services (VTS), pilotage, Port State Control (PSC), and ship operations. The framework combines the Fine–Kinney method with an Intuitionistic Fuzzy TODIM (an acronym in Portuguese for interactive and multicriteria decision-making). The results indicate that undisclosed propulsion deficiencies, steering problems, and nontransparent withdrawal from passage queues are the most critical accident precursors. These findings highlight the importance of reliable reporting and provide practical and transferable guidance for reducing the risks of maritime accidents and improving risk management for vessel traffic. In particular, the results support the prioritization of propulsion and steering system checks, as well as the closer scrutiny of vessels withdrawing from passage queues, offering actionable insights for VTS operators, PSC authorities and marine pilots.

Risk Analysis of Bridge Team Management on Navigational Safety in the Mahakam River Fairway

Although navigational risk management has received considerable attention in maritime safety research, few studies have quantified collision and grounding risks in Indonesia’s narrow river fairways using long-term incident records. This study analyzed the risk levels of collision and grounding incidents involving KM. Tonasa Line XIX in the Mahakam River Fairway and evaluated compliance with Bridge Resource Management (BRM) practices in maintaining navigational safety. A descriptive qualitative approach was employed, drawing on BRM theory, Human Factors Theory, Situational Awareness Theory, the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972, and the International Safety Management Code. Data were collected through direct observation during sea practice, in-depth interviews with the Master and three Deck Officers, and a literature review. Risk quantification was conducted using the Formal Safety Assessment framework established in IMO MSC/Circ.1023 and based on 25 verified incidents recorded in the fairway between 2021 and 2026. The findings identified human error—including fatigue, miscommunication, and inappropriate decision-making—and environmental conditions, such as channel siltation, strong currents, and high traffic density, as the dominant risk drivers. Based on the formula Risk Score = Likelihood × Consequence, collision incidents, comprising at least 17 cases, and grounding incidents, comprising at least eight cases, each received a score of 9 and were classified as high risk. The study concludes that BRM procedures are available on board but are not consistently implemented, particularly in relation to situational awareness, assertive communication, and fatigue management. These findings extend the literature on incident-history-based Formal Safety Assessment in confined waterways and provide practical implications for shipping companies, bridge officers, and waterway authorities seeking to strengthen navigational safety in the Mahakam River corridor. The study also provides a basis for future comparative research involving multiple vessels and river fairways.

Defining High‐Impact AI in Autonomous Shipping: Legal Frameworks, Supply Chain Resilience, and Maritime Safety Dimensions

The rapid emergence of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) has made the governance of artificial intelligence systems a question of immediate regulatory urgency. The European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act (2024) and the Republic of Korea's AI Framework Act (2025) are the first two horizontal, binding, risk‐tiered AI statutes in force, yet neither provides operationally adequate criteria for classifying AI systems aboard autonomous vessels. Maritime transport sits outside the EU Act's Annex III, and Korea's Act defers the operative classification to guidelines whose maritime treatment remains incomplete. This paper proposes five interrelated criteria for classifying autonomous shipping AI as high‐impact—functional centrality to navigation and safety, reliability under maritime stress, systemic harm potential upon malfunction, dependence on real‐time data integrity, and structural absence of human override—grounded in the operational realities of autonomous vessels and the legal obligations both frameworks activate once the threshold is crossed. Because roughly four‐fifths of world trade by volume moves by sea through a small number of congested chokepoints, accurate classification is also a question of supply chain resilience, with dimensions extending beyond technical risk to seafarer welfare, marine‐environmental integrity, and the democratic legitimacy of a transition whose pace has outrun the governance architecture intended to steer it.

Perceived technology readiness of maritime autonomous surface ship technologies

The advancement of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) represents a major shift in the maritime industry, promising enhanced efficiency, safety, and sustainability in short-sea shipping (SSS). This study explores the technology readiness level (TRL) of core technologies for fully autonomous MASS operation in the SSS context. A systematic literature review identified 15 such technologies across four operational phases: open-sea navigation, berthing, mooring, and shore-to-ship communication. These comprise both baseline maritime technologies already mature in conventional shipping (e.g., GPS, RADAR, VHF radio, satellites) and autonomy-specific technologies whose maturity directly conditions MASS readiness (e.g., collision avoidance algorithms, intelligent detection algorithms, on-board robotic systems). The perceived TRL of these technologies is assessed based on a survey of relevant stakeholders. On-board robotic systems, augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR), 3D measurement using dense stereo vision, and intelligent detection algorithms (IDA) are the technologies with lowest perceived TRL. A technology roadmap analysis is conducted too considering up to a 20-year timeline, which suggests that on-board robotic systems technology is likely to take the longest time to reach highest TRL. The findings highlight the MASS technologies that need more attention from academia and industry for further development of MASS.

Design of a Proactive Occupational Safety Monitoring System at the Transhipment Point Area

Transshipment point maritime coal logistics involves high occupational safety risks due to dynamic sea conditions, continuous operations, and complex vessel-handling activities. Current monitoring practices primarily rely on CCTV systems for security purposes, limiting the real-time detection of unsafe acts and delaying corrective interventions, which contributes to recurring human-factor-related accidents. A gap remains between safety reporting mechanisms and real-time behavioral observation, indicating the need for proactive monitoring integration at the Bulk Sumatra site. This study designed a proactive occupational safety monitoring system to improve the early detection of unsafe acts and support decision-making in complex maritime operational environments. A qualitative case study approach was employed using observations, interviews, and document reviews conducted at a transshipment point. The collected data were analyzed using Root Cause Analysis (RCA), SWOT analysis (Internal Factor Analysis Summary [IFAS]–External Factor Analysis Summary [EFAS]), and Design Thinking to develop a user-centered monitoring framework. The findings revealed discrepancies between reported unsafe conditions and observed unsafe acts, highlighting the limitations of existing monitoring practices. CCTV systems were found to be underutilized for occupational safety purposes. The proposed system integrates risk-based camera placement, digital safety reporting, monitoring dashboards, risk classification, and structured follow-up mechanisms to enhance response effectiveness. The system design emphasizes early warning capabilities, faster supervisory intervention, and improved accountability across operational areas. The proposed model enhances safety visibility, accelerates risk mitigation, strengthens occupational safety controls, and supports improved safety performance in transshipment operations. This study contributes to the transition from reactive safety management toward proactive, risk-based decision-making within maritime coal logistics operations.

Construction and Illustrative Analysis of a Graded Safety Risk Control System for Construction Sites Based on the LEC Method