Lloyd’s Register (LR) has released new research indicating that excessive shipboard alarms are routinely overwhelming crews and actively undermining safety standards. The study analysed data from 11 operational vessels over 2,000 days, covering more than 40 million alarm-related events.
The findings show that many ships generate thousands of alerts daily, with some cruise ships experiencing up to 2,600 alarms per day and peak rates reaching nearly 4,700 in just ten minutes.
The research applied industrial standards to analyse the data, including IEC 62682 and EEMUA 191, and found that fewer than half of the vessels met the recommended benchmark of fewer than 30 alarms per hour. On ships with unattended machinery spaces, alarms were found to disrupt 63% of rest periods.
A pilot project conducted on an operational cruise ship to test potential avenues to improve alarm effectiveness demonstrated that total alarm numbers could be reduced by almost 50% over a six-month period through engineering interventions such as correcting valve installations and replacing faulty sensors.
“Our research found that alarm systems, when poorly managed, have themselves become a safety risk. Without decisive industry action, alarm fatigue will continue to undermine situational awareness and increase the likelihood of serious incidents,” said Duncan Duffy, global head of technology at Lloyd’s Register.
“If the maritime industry is serious about safety, it must commit to continuous performance measurement, objective evaluation, and a human-centred approach to alarm system design.”
The report (available to download here) recommends the adoption of objective alarm performance assessments and stronger consideration of human factors in system design to support consistent regulatory standards.
