The present trend in the automation of merchant ships may be compared with the situation which existed in aviation some thirty years ago when individual operators were developing their own ideas in navigation and flight programming, with little coordination and often a good deal of secrecy. In recent years some degree of automation has become usual in the design of new cargo vessels because of the need to reduce labour costs, and perhaps claims arising from accidents to personnel, as well as to increase efficiency of operation and reduce the margin of navigational error. But again there is the same lack of coordinated development and open discussion, in marked contrast to the planned development of the supersonic transport. In America, the U.S. Maritime Commission in cooperation with some of the instrument makers has carried out studies in ships' instrumentation, and also on cargo handling and machinery automation; but owners have remained aloof, following their own lines of development.