This paper analyses common errors by junior deck officers in maritime simulator training, emphasizing strategies to enhance navigational safety through improved situational awareness, communication, and teamwork. Research of recorded simulator sessions revealed prevalent mistakes, including misjudging minimum safety distances, misinterpreting navigational signals, lapses in situational awareness, poor communication and lack of effective teamwork. Key variables influencing errors include distraction levels and scenario difficulty. Actions such as targeted training programs, dynamic scenario designs, and coordination exercises, were tested to reduce error rates. Results indicate that structured feedback, collaborative training, and adaptive scenarios significantly improve situational awareness, communication, and decision-making. The study highlights the importance of addressing human factors and experience gaps in maritime training, providing scalable strategies for real-world application. These findings promote safer maritime operations by training young deck officers with new skills to enhance situational wareness and teamwork, reducing navigational incidents. This paper was published in the proceedings of the 4th International Conference of Maritime Science & Technology “Naše More 2025”, held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on 18–19 September 2025.
Leiger et al. (Wed,) studied this question.