Decision-making in the maritime deep-sea segments - a systematic literature review on the knowledge base for prevention and mitigation of accidents

Maritime deep-sea shipping accounts for 80 % of global trade but continues to experience accidents. Although research exists on specific prevention and mitigation technologies, methodologies, and process improvements, there are no comprehensive reviews of the knowledge base on how these studies affect decision-making in maritime. This study brings together research results and strategies for transferring research results to stakeholders involved in decision-making for the prevention and mitigation of accidents. The output of this review is shaped by a simplified typology for decision-making settings, a definition of risk information, and a state-of-the-art risk theoretical foundation. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted following PRISMA guidelines, analyzing 33 reports from the WoS, Scopus, and EBSCO databases. Two gaps in the current knowledge base were identified: (1) limited focus on operational decision-making (only 3 % of reports had operational focus) and (2) poor translation of risk information across the decision-making settings (only 10 % of reports discussed strategies for transfer of research results to end recipients). These gaps could reduce the relevance of research results for those dealing with operational risks at sea in deep-sea segments. This suggests that greater attention is needed to bridge the gap between research findings and stakeholders in decision-making processes to prevent and mitigate accidents.

Keywords: Maritime, Decision-making, Risk, Deep-Sea.