Development of a SAGAT Query and Simulator Experiment to Measure Situation Awareness in Maritime Navigation

Abstract

Many ship collisions and groundings occur due to navigators’ erroneous situation awareness (SA). The objective of this study is to develop a method to measure SA for maritime navigation and collision avoidance (SA-MA). This study uses the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) as a basis and tool to assess SA. Both interviews with experts and simulator experiments are used. Ten participants, five navigators with extensive experience, and five second-year students at a nautical science program participate in the simulator experiment. Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) is used to map the navigation and collision avoidance tasks as input to the SA queries. The objective measurements collected from the simulator and subject matter experts are used for the SAGAT score. A well-developed SAGAT query and simulator experiment results in a difference in the SA-MA between the experienced navigators and the students with less experience. The study found it is difficult to measure SA-MA, especially for level 2 and 3 SA.