Re: Distress
"All properly run ships have 24 hour lookouts"
The fallacy of that is the first part: "properly run"
The reality is that crews don't, which is why smaller boats get run down with monotonous regularity. A robot at the helm may well help reduce such issues, by dealing with the farcical claim that the current manning/watch situation is adequate (owners of course resisting anything which costs money, like detection/collision avoidance warning systems)
Incidents of near misses between ships where one of them is clearly on GPS autopilot and NOONE is visible in the bridge are fairly easily found.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
