The significance of trust in maintaining safety during digital transformations in the maritime industry

Digitalization is rapidly transforming maritime operations, reshaping both technical systems and everyday work practices on board vessels and within shipowner organizations. This paper investigates how the introduction of digital tools such as automated machinery and sensor-based monitoring systems, as well as information technologies for data processing and communication affect maritime work and safety. While the adoption of these technologies is driven by efficiency demands, environmental requirements, regulatory pressures, and the need for real-time operational insight. Crews benefit from improved access to operational data and enhanced connectivity, yet they also face increased workloads due to manual data entry, duplicate reporting, and insufficient integration between systems. This has an impact on the sociotechnical system and hence, the safety of the operation. This is not recognized in the development of technology. Drawing on sociotechnical research, the study highlights the role of technology design, usability, and integration in shaping safe and efficient operations. Despite the potential for digital tools to support operational resilience, findings indicate that current systems are primarily developed from a functional, control-oriented perspective. A central challenge identified in the study is the lack of collaboration and trust between shipowners and technology suppliers. Conflicts around data ownership, integration costs, and vendor lock-in limit cooperative development. Trust is shown to be essential for successful partnerships and for the development of digital systems that genuinely support maritime operations. The paper is based on a qualitative study of 16 focus group interviews with shipowners and senior crew members from Norwegian maritime companies. The findings demonstrate that building stronger, trust-based supplier relationships is crucial for developing digital tools to improve safety, efficiency, and the resilience of maritime sociotechnical systems.

Keywords: Trust, Digital technology, Safety, Maritime industry, technology development, sociotechnical systems.