Identification of weak links in the ECDIS - operator system based on simulator training

Statistics, based on grounding incident investigations, is not always sufficient for retrieving objective information and designing comprehensive solutions for improving the ECDIS training process for deck officers and development of methods aimed at reducing the grounding incident rate and improving the effectiveness of navigation. The research studies statistics on deck officers` errors made during training on bridge simulators equipped with ECDIS and provides an analysis of errors distribution among navigators of different ranks. The study shows that in event of the EPFS (Electronic Position Fixing System) failure the likelihood of grounding increases dramatically for all deck officers, irrespective of rank and experience, despite having fully functional radar and ECDIS in dead reckoning mode.