Safety in Marine Operations

Safety in marine operations primarily depends on forward-planning and people being aware of their surroundings and managing the presence of others in the same arena at the same time. Marine operations must contend with challenging environments and hazards that require greater domain awareness; especially when many operators from different organisations are working in the same area. Being aware of what is going on around you in a marine domain, is termed Marine Domain Awareness (MDA), which involves the perception and understanding of environmental factors, their meaning and effects, and foreseeing their likely status and impact in the near future. This paper applies Situational Awareness (SA) concepts to the safety of marine operations and proposes a model for developing an information exchange system to enhance marine operational safety. The proposed model enhances MDA and can help in developing procedures and training programs to promote domain awareness. A framework for the safe marine operation is outlined in this paper.