Hi Jacob - there are lots and lots of things GIS can help with outside of charting and visualisation. Like Guy pointed out it much easier to think of things when you have a problem to solve. However, in my experience working with maritime and coastguard data can have a good dosage of analytical topics including:
- The use of AIS data both as live tracking and for trend analysis
- Offshore development impact analysis (e.g. leasing of space for offshore wind farm development which could include bathymetry considerations, traffic analysis e.g. routing, bottleneck etc..., location and type of wrecks, impact on Search and Rescue operations)
- Risk analysis in general which might tie in with MetOcean data
I would suggest having a look at the principal organisations that deal with this type of data including the US Coastguard, UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency, plus other nations including Canada and Europe...they will put out press releases and other public information that might give you an idea.
