Ship sense - What is it and how does one get it?

We hereby introduce a new research agenda: ship sense, which deals with the craftsman like ship handling evident in for example manoeuvring. This is something that all seafarers deal with and something that is close to their heart, but very few can put into words what it really is and how it is acquired. As a start of charting out the area a questionnaire was used to collect opinions regarding the concept from active mariners. Experience and training was found to play a major part in acquiring ship sense and the ability to sense more body-related input such as accelerations and balance were almost as important as the more traditional opinion of vision as the prime provider of information cues. This opens up for further exploration of the importance and attribution of the vestibular and proprioceptive senses as contributors to the implicit art of ship sense. © 2009: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects.