In the past decade more than 25,000 accidents have been caused by ships maneuvering under adverse environmental or traffic conditions. A leading cause of many of these accidents - by some estimates up to 70 or 80 percent - are due to "human error," confirmed by the fact that international organizations such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are dedicating significant time and resources to studying the problem and developing solutions. The marine electronics community has used this trend to steadily build complete bridge systems which are increasingly integrated "plug and play" units. A high level of corporate consolidations has significantly aided this trend.