The aerospace industry has demonstrated very effectively the accuracy and reliability of both manned and unmanned vehicles on extensive and sophisticated missions. There is little doubt that the next two or three decades will see the rapid introduction of further automated and computerized techniques into ship operations and there is a great deal that the shipping industry can learn from civil aviation – in particular, traffic regulation, automated navigation, accident investigation, and training techniques. Three accidents which illustrate some of the problems associated with the operation of merchant ships are cited, and comparisons made with the operational procedures used in aviation.

The motor vessel Blythe Star of 321 grt sailed at 1830 on 12 October 1973 from Hobart, Tasmania, bound for King Island with a cargo of bagged superphosphate. At 0800 on 13 October she heeled over to starboard and sank. The weather was fine, with light winds, slight seas, and very low swell. All of the ten persons aboard abandoned ship in an inflatable life-raft. One died at sea and two others died after reaching shore in southern Tasmania. The remainder, after landing on 21 October, made their way to a logging contractor and safety on October 24. The accident resulted in the biggest search and rescue operation ever conducted in Australia.