Comparative Analyses of Manoeuvring Patterns in Real and Virtual AtoN Environment

: This paper presents a comparative analysis of manoeuvring patterns through the fairway which is marked with physical and virtual Aids to Navigation (AtoN). The impact of V ‐ AtoN environment on decision ‐ making and on consequent manoeuvres has never been studied in such a way. The results published in this paper were obtained using TRANSAS Navi Trainer 5000 and TRANSAS ECDIS 4000 simulators where 12 deck officers with at least 5 years of sea service participated. The results of the study indicate that there is a significant difference in manoeuvring patterns between the two environments. In case of virtual environment, more intense drift angles, ROTs as well as XTDs are observed. The paper demonstrates significant impact of virtual environment on behaviour of OOW.