On today’s modern bridge there are
not only a lot of different navigational
equipment but also equipment that
makes it possible to monitor all activ-
ity onboard the vessel, cargo handling,
ballast operations, fire alarms, security
cameras, communication and engine
performance. Today’s officers have
multiple tasks to deal with during the
voyage that are not related to naviga-
tion. This can increase officers’ stress
levels especially if they are not confident
about using the equipment, or have not
received the proper training. To be able
to optimally utilize the equipment, the
design and ergonomics of it has to be
considered. It has been discovered that
poor design and ergonomics have been a
contributing factor to some accidents.
The objective of the modern bridge
should be to have an efficient place
with a high safety level. The ideal bridge
should be designed to be efficient during
critical operations, such as piloting and
manoeuvring. The objective should be
that it is designed for teamwork where
two people can monitor each other and
carry out tasks equally.
In the study “Bridge ergonomics and
usability of navigational system as a
safety and quality feature” carried out
by the University of the Aegean, it was
found that ergonomic problems were one
of the causes of a number of accidents.
Two of these cases were groundings in
Finnish waters, and it was found that
poor ergonomics and poor bridge design
were contributing factors.
In the first grounding the authorities
found that the control panel for the bow
thrusters was not ideally positioned as
it was placed behind the officer’s chair.
The vessel was also equipped with a
joystick that could be used for manoeu-
vring but wasn’t used because it was not
in a user-friendly position. The main rea-
sons for this accident were the master’s
lack of familiarization with the bridge
equipment and lack of proper MRM.
In the second grounding the pilot
used the autopilot for an alternation
but realized that more rate of turn