Behavioural Trust Calibration in Semi-Autonomous Ship Navigation

Objective

The safe deployment of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) depends on human operators’ ability to detect and override flawed automation in real time. While trust in automation has been conceptually studied in other domains, empirical evidence in maritime contexts—particularly under high-risk, real-time conditions—remains scarce. The aim of this project is to explore trust calibration in human–automation interaction during MASS Level 2 operations, with the broader goal of generating insights that can inform training, recruitment, and safety procedures. In pursuit of this aim, the study takes an exploratory approach to examine how human operators detect and respond to faulty automation decisions, and how factors such as manual A quasi-experimental study in a high-fidelity bridge simulator will adopt a three-phase design: (1) manual navigation to establish baseline performance, (2) autonomous transit with a deliberately flawed decision, and (3) a trust calibration training module delivered to a subset of participants. By comparing maritime officers and technically trained non-maritime participants, the study will identify role-specific differences in trust calibration and automation bias, generating novel empirical evidence for safety-critical operations. Expected outcomes include: (i) role-specific recommendations for recruitment and training of MASS operators, (ii) a Trust Calibration Operating Procedure (TCOP)—a behavior-based safety protocol inspired by captains’ “night orders”—defining when and how to intervene in flawed automation, and (iii) empirically derived thresholds for manual override decisions in autonomous navigation. By addressing critical gaps in empirical evidence on trust, expertise, and intervention behavior, this project will provide exploratory findings that may inform recruitment, training, and safety procedures, thereby supporting the Work Programme’s objectives of advancing safe, human-centred, and sustainable maritime transport.