'Radical rethink needed' over ship lookouts after North Sea crash

According to Mr McFarlane, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) could issue an urgent safety ruling requiring UK-flagged ships to be fitted with fully automated anti-collision systems.

However, given the volume of marine traffic from around the world that passes through UK waters, he said it was likely that any proposal would need to pass through the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

This "could take between four and 10 years for any measures to be brought in", due to member countries needing to agree.

Mr McFarlane said BNWAS, radar systems and other safety mechanisms, such as the Automatic Identification System, were fitted with "a number of alarms" designed to alert crew to an impending collision.

In respect of BNWAS, he said "an alarm should sound in a public area", in order to ensure others were alerted should the person steering the ship become "incapacitated" or "distracted".

In addition to using new technology to avoid collisions, he said there should be a review of "really tight schedules", which created "very, very hectic conditions" for seafarers.

"Ships will often spend less than 24 hours in port before setting off again," he added. "On top of that, captains will be having to deal with customs and excise and paperwork around the cargo and immigration."

A spokesperson for the IMO said: "We look forward to receiving any proposal from the UK arising from the investigation into the incident."

The BBC has contacted the MCA for a comment.