Alert fatigue: when alarms train crews to stop listening

When alerts arrive constantly and without clear differentiation, the brain learns to silence them. That is alert fatigue, and on a busy bridge it can turn one genuinely important alarm into background noise.

This article examines how repeated low-value alarms can train crews to silence the ones that genuinely matter, and what good alert design looks like.

This growing bridge complexity is most keenly felt by crews through the number of alerts received. Modern alert management systems are designed to draw crew attention to issues onboard, and to prioritise what matters.

Shravan Bhagra highlighted this, stating that “there are so many alarms going off, especially when you’re in constricted waters, guys are just going and acknowledging alarms”.

The IMO’s Bridge Alert Management (BAM) standard (MSC.302(87)) was developed to simplify alerts, improve their prioritisation and handling, helping bridge teams identify potentially fragile situations quickly and reduce unnecessary alarm-related distractions.

Despite these efforts, the experience on board is often very different. As James Shaw explained from an operational standpoint, “when you are trying to concentrate on getting alongside the berth, it can be very distracting, the alarms are constantly going off in the background.”

Alert fatigue is not just a matter of quantity, but of whether systems showcase the right information in a usable way.

Repeated low-value alarms can train crews to stop properly engaging with them. As Alexander McDonald explained, “there might be that one in the middle which is a valuable alarm which nobody picks up on because it’s just acknowledge, acknowledge, acknowledge.”

Reflecting this, Matthew Bland, Chartered Master Mariner at Alton Marine Consulting Limited, observed that where alerts are not clearly differentiated, “they can’t prioritise them, and it leads inevitably to alarms being silenced or bypassed.”

Lloyd’s Register research has shown that alarm fatigue is a persistent issue. The report illustrates how high alarm volumes can impact situational awareness and response performance.

Speaking on the topic of unavoidable alarm load and alarms created by poor configuration, Robert Pogson, Deputy Harbour Master/VTS Manager at Belfast Harbour, stated, “people quote alarm fatigue, but then they don’t consider, well, you didn’t set the system up properly in the first place.”

From an operational perspective, Capt. Abhijit Arvind Mohite noted that “many pilots don’t like too many alarms because they become a distraction.” This reflects the issue that systems designed to improve awareness can end up competing for attention in already demanding environments.

John Hissey supported this, explaining that once systems are integrated, poor configuration can quickly turn into noise. “As soon as you put things into a digital platform, unless it’s really well configured, it will just ping at you,” he said. “You get so used to just silencing the button, you will miss the things that are important.”