Seaways All hands on tech - April 2026
The ship of tomorrow is already in service today
by Capt Aly Elsayed AFNI
Much of the discussion in shipping today focuses on what comes next. More automated functions, autonomous operations, greater connectivity increasingly data-driven ships; the future is approaching fast. But while we look ahead, we must also remember that many of the ‘vessels of tomorrow’ are already in service today.
If a shipping company orders a vessel today, that ship will probably remain in service for the next 25 to 30 years. In other words, the ship coming down the slip today will still be operating well into the 2050s. Even vessels delivered ten or fifteen years ago are only halfway through their operational life. New ships with new technology will enter the fleet – but the vessels already in service will not disappear.
Equipment often updates more frequently than ships, and as a result, seafarers often have to deal with systems, interfaces and digital tools on vessels that were never designed for them. Each new piece of equipment is introduced with the best intentions, but if they are not properly integrated with existing equipment, they can complicate the very task that they were meant to simplify.
This is where a Human-Centred approach, and in particular Human- Centred Design (HCD), becomes important. The design process needs to reflect how work is actually done on board, taking into account the experience and needs of the end user. Systems should support the seafarer, not compete for attention. Interfaces should be intuitive, integrated and aligned with real operational practice. That is the ideal, at any rate. In practice, adding a new system that does not work with the old may mean clumsy and time-consuming workarounds. New ships with new technology will enter the fleet – but existing vessels will not disappear. At worst, it can be actively dangerous.
All too often technology is developed and installed without meaningful input from those who will use it every day. Feedback after the system is installed is all very well, but it would be much more powerful, and more effective, if users’ views were taken into account at design stage.
Without that input, we risk introducing increasingly sophisticated technology that unintentionally adds workload, complexity and distraction – the opposite of what we meant to achieve.
Finding out what seafarers really need, where the pain points are and how to avoid them, is one of the key motivations of the STEER project. By listening to seafarers and understanding how systems are actually used on board, the industry can better identify the gaps between design intentions and operational reality, on existing ships as well as new ones.
Seafarers are never short of an opinion, but gathering those opinions can be a challenge. If you’ve got something to share about how innovation and integration works on your ship – good or bad – come and share it with us here.