The overall objective of FLAGSHIP is to improve the safety, environmental friendliness and competitiveness of European maritime transport. The project will contribute to further increase in the capacity and reliability of freight and passenger services and to a reduction of negative impact from accidents and emissions. The emphasis of the project is on on-board systems and procedures, ship management systems on shore, impact of new technology on present ship owner and operator organisations, effective and efficient communication interfaces and impact of standards and regulations. Developments in legislation and reporting requirement represent new challenges in ship operation. From being an almost autonomous vehicle, modern ships are being turned into a component of highly controlled and monitored transport infrastructure. Requirements cover both certification of equipment, operation procedures and various recordings and documentation. Present ships are already being equipped with extensive systems for sensing, monitoring, diagnostics and decision support, and new communication infrastructures are being explored to provide a closer integration of ship and shore-based resources. However, due to the increasing complexity of onboard systems, combined with a n overall limitation in manning, the development of next generation shipping operations must be supported by relevant developments of technology, procedures and regulations. Modern ship systems are capable of providing a prodigious amount of data. There fore, it is essential that all the relevant information is presented to the ship operator in the best possible way, and that rational tools are available that give the ship crew and on-shore support teams intelligent guidance.