Shared Mental Models of Challenging Maritime Situations: Comparisons of Ship and Shore Personnel in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore

Shared mental models, measured as similar perceptions and understandings of the components of a work task or an operative environment, is a key characteristic for high performing teams. Identifying and addressing differences in mental models may help enhance teamwork, and can serve as a frame for the improvement of human-centered information and communication systems. This paper has been written as part of the SESAME Straits project, a testbed within the e-Navigation framework. It examines similarities and differences in mental models between Deck Officers working aboard ships and Vessel Traffic Service Officers working ashore. Data was compared the participants´ perception of 12 challenging traffic situations in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. A total of 189 respondents participated by means of an electronic survey. Findings show that Deck and Vessel Traffic Officers do have a large degree of shared mental models, but that there also are significant differences. In particular, there are large ship-shore differences in perceptions of the impact on local ship traffic on safety and efficiency. The second and third situation of large difference was delayed or reduced availability of port services, and challenging weather conditions. Implications are that future development of ship-shore collaborative systems should specifically explore and address the issue of local ship traffic, and to find ways to integrate information about availability and timing of port services and of difficult weather situations.