Complex Shipboard Systems May Prove to be Disastrous Published on : 20th Dec 2014 The physicist Stephen Hawking caused a mild flurry of comment earlier this month when he suggested that Artificial Intelligence could get so intelligent that it might menace the human race. In this he was inferring that if the machines got cleverer than the people charged with their operation, there may be trouble ahead. So it is perhaps sensible that the International Association of Classification Societies now has a dedicated expert group focusing on the subject of complex on-board systems, with such rapid development taking place in this area. On a number of occasions concern has been expressed that ship systems are becoming too complex and sophisticated for those aboard ship to safely intervene, should they require this. There have already been accidents in which the inability of those on the spot to understand what was going on with the machinery, or control equipment, has been identified as a contributor. With sophisticated shore side equipment, if problems arise in its operation it is usually possible to summon expert assistance to speedily address them. With a ship at sea this is not the case, hence traditionally there always has been a degree of self-sufficiency available in the crew. But if the equipment is beyond the knowledge and abilities of those on board, who may not be able to diagnose the problem that has arisen, there is the possibility of an incident becoming an accident, and even graduating into a disaster. One might think of an electrical fault in a cruise ship which, within a short space of time, had “graduated” into a major difficulty, with integrated systems magnifying the problem to such an extent that air conditioning, sanitation and food preparation had all been affected with a very large ship rapidly becoming virtually uninhabitable, in addition to being disabled. There was the case of a large new container ship involved in a berthing incident in port, after the Chief Engineer who had commissioned the ship had been unexpectedly relieved, with his surprise replacement unable to understand the sophisticated engine management system. It has been incidents of this type and the fear that with the spread of complex shipboard systems they will become more prevalent, that has persuaded IACS to adopt a joint approach to the problem of complexity. This will be a welcome development, as it is clear that a whole range of developments in on-board systems, where the trend is towards greater integration and complexity, might be advancing at such a rate that some objective oversight is required. Are people being trained and retrained to properly use these systems? As with any modern equipment, it is fine when it is running perfectly, but when something unexpected happens, the human beings need to be sufficiently competent to intervene. How is this competence to be achieved? Communications from ashore may well provide a degree of distant expertise, but will this be enough, with things going wrong with integrated systems, possibly in bad weather, with the ship in a vulnerable location? IACS will hopefully provide some answers. Source : BIMCO
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 04:04:19 +0000
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