As autonomous technologies become increasingly capable, the role of human operators is shifting from direct control to supervision and intervention. This report examines the challenges of maintaining effective human oversight of autonomous ships and argues that safe autonomy depends not only on technology, but also on how humans, systems, and organizations interact. It introduces a human-centred approach to ship autonomy and highlights practical methods for designing, testing, and assuring human-autonomy performance.
Request a copy
The maritime industry is making rapid progress towards autonomous and remotely operated vessels. Advances in sensing, automation, artificial intelligence, and remote operations are changing how ships are designed, operated, and managed. At the same time, international regulations continue to place ultimate responsibility for safety with humans, making effective human oversight a critical requirement for future autonomous operations.
This report explores the role of humans in ship autonomy and examines the challenges associated with supervising increasingly capable autonomous systems. While autonomous technologies can perform many operational tasks, human operators remain responsible for monitoring performance, maintaining situation awareness, intervening when necessary, and managing situations that fall outside the system’s capabilities.
To address these challenges, the report advocates a human-centred approach to ship autonomy. It introduces Human-Centred Design principles and Human Readiness Levels as frameworks for designing, developing, testing, and assuring autonomous systems that support effective human oversight. Drawing on current research, regulatory developments, and maritime industry experience, the report proposes a structured approach to integrating human performance considerations throughout the lifecycle of autonomous ship systems.
Download the report to learn how increasingly autonomous ships can remain safe, resilient, and trustworthy by taking a human-centred approach.