Abstract: 75%-96% of maritime accidents are caused by human factors.It is thus vital for navigation safety to explore the relationship between physical or physiological state and operational errors during seafarers′ operations on board.This paper introduces contents of human factors in maritime accidents, and measurements of human factors, e.g.electroencephalography (EEG) and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIFS).Studies on physiological signals and human factors are reviewed.Relationships among neurophysiologic data changes, workload, attention, stress and fatigue of seafarers are elaborated.Ultimately, the prospect of human factor studies is discussed.It tends to study seafarers′ behavior, force-warning human failures, optimization of crews training systems, and improvement of duty system based on neurophysiologic data.It is significance to help decrease human errors in maritime accidents and enhances safety of shipping.