developing for the purpose of safety and economy. The shipping
companies in the advanced countries are burdened with serious economical problems. Also as
maritime safety is requested by the general public, IMO has revised STCW convention.
Over 500 ships with the modern navigation system, called IBS(Integrated
Bridge System) are actually out at sea. IBS will increase because of the above stated
development purposes. The object of IBS design is to divide functions of man and machine
and to make reasonable interface between them. Conventional navigation equipments do not
function very much in this field compared with IBS. Introduction of IBS must be regarded
as a completely new system. Therefore, it is necessary to educate operators who can attend
this new system.
In this paper, first, we analyze the function of navigation system
which is constituted by human and navigation apparatus and discuss the human ability which
is needed for operating IBS correctly. Secondly, we discuss the methods of education and
training to grant the ability of operators. Thirdly, we propose the direction of
development of an ideal IBS.
2. HUMAN FUNCTION IN SHIP OPERATION SYSTEM
While human function in ship operation system has been changing
according to the available technologies, an Advanced Navigation Technology has made a
remarkable change on the conventional human function. In this section, human function in
ship operation system is discussed with respect to the cases of conventional ships and
advanced ships. Firstly. discussion is made on concept of the system in each case, and
then on human function in each case. Although IBS which is currently developing is a
materialization of the Advanced Navigation Technology, it is still on its way to a
completed product. Considering the said point, this paper discusses the human function
which corresponds to present IBS as well as the human function which corresponds to a
genuine Advanced Navigation System which is to be realized in the near future.
2.1 Concept of Ship Operation System and Human Function of Conventional
Ship
2.1.1 Concept
The ship operation system of a conventional ship is basically a
self-perfecting system which executes all tasks regarding navigation operated by human
using instruments on board. A ship operator collects necessary information by himself,
makes decisions and operates by himself. Information is collected mainly through visual
information. Moreover, to compensate a human sense, various sensors have been developed
(compass, echo-sounder, speed sensor, etc.).
2.1.2 Human function
In conventional ships, information processing was mostly done by human.
Human function was required in every stage of the processing. Human had to be capable of
processing information. At the same time, the capability of the system itself was defined
by a limit of human's processing ability. (accuracy of processing, speed of processing).
The functions to be executed by human are shown in (Table 1).
