A fresh examination of the Halifax Explosion focuses on the munitions ship itself rather than the devastated city. By analysing recovered shrapnel and debris distribution, researchers uncover new evidence about blast dynamics, vessel destruction, and debris dispersal, offering unique insights into one of history’s most powerful non nuclear explosions ever.

Digital heritage and immersive technology are being combined to inspire future generations into STEM. Using the historic SS Freshspring as a platform, researchers developed accessible virtual-reality experiences across browsers, smartphones, and headsets. The initiative demonstrates how interactive maritime storytelling can broaden engagement, education, and skills development worldwide for diverse audiences.

Balancing historical authenticity with modern safety standards remains a key challenge in traditional wooden craft design. Comparing original scantlings, empirical sizing methods, and contemporary regulatory rules, the analysis reveals significant structural differences and potential weight savings. The findings provide valuable guidance for replica construction, timber engineering, and performance optimisation today.

Traditional timber construction has significantly impacted maritime transportation and yacht design, and some historical principles remain key elements of today’s wooden boatbuilding. Despite the wealth of experience that originates from trial and error, limited scientific background dedicated to wooden boats exist. Consequently, this paper tackled two areas of particular interest, namely scarf joints and laminated timber, using destructive testing to quantify the mechanical properties. These are compared to experimental values for solid timber as well as the allowable regulatory properties.

Reviving the historic Galatea as a modern naval training vessel blends maritime heritage with contemporary engineering. Inspired by the celebrated Glenlee, the concept evaluates stability, propulsion, structural integrity, and regulatory compliance to create a future-ready sail training ship, preserving tradition while supporting officer development for generations ahead to come worldwide.

The Album de Colbert offers a unique visual record of seventeenth-century French shipbuilding. Created to support naval modernisation under Louis XIV, its detailed illustrations document the construction of an eighty-gun warship from keel to launch. The work demonstrates how imagery became a powerful tool for transmitting maritime engineering knowledge today.

New ergonomics guidance is helping address one of shipping’s most persistent safety risks: unsafe access and egress. By applying human-centred design principles to onboard movement, the framework aims to reduce slips, trips, falls, and injuries. The work strengthens classification guidance while improving crew safety and operational wellbeing globally today overall.

Autonomous shipping will require new human capabilities alongside advanced technology. Through expert-led analysis across safety, cybersecurity, legal and training domains, researchers identified seven critical skill sets for future maritime operations. The findings highlight how education, workforce development and human-system integration will shape successful autonomous sociotechnical ecosystems worldwide in coming decades.

System-theoretic safety analysis is helping ship operators manage growing automation complexity. By applying STPA to human-machine interactions during passenger-vessel blackout scenarios, researchers identified hazardous control actions, accident pathways, and mitigation measures. The approach strengthens safety-focused design, improves resilience in critical operations, and supports safer integration of advanced onboard automation systems.

Human-centred design is gaining recognition as a critical factor in maritime safety and operational performance. Drawing on industry-wide collaboration, stakeholders identified strategies to improve usability awareness, strengthen regulatory support, equip designers with practical tools, and embed human-centred principles across ship design, ultimately reducing errors and enhancing crew effectiveness globally today.

Autonomous cargo ships promise reduced crew costs and fewer onboard human errors but introduce new operational challenges. Analysis of Norwegian trials highlights navigation risks, remote-control limitations, regulatory requirements, and interactions with conventionally navigated vessels. The findings suggest structured traffic management and oversight remain essential for safe autonomous-shipping deployment worldwide today.

Autonomous shipping’s shore control centres are becoming critical hubs for future vessel operations. Mapping stakeholder relationships and operator needs, researchers identified key human-factor challenges affecting safety, usability, and performance. The findings support concurrent human-centred design and technology development, helping align business objectives, operational demands, and autonomous-shipping adoption worldwide today effectively.