Abstract
In the maritime transportation services industry, marine accidents may lead to fatalities, injuries, and property losses. Coastal ferry operators experience marine accidents and must pay attention to safety to guarantee the sustainability of their business. This study is aimed at analyzing the operational efficiency of coastal ferry operators in Korea from a safety perspective. We designed two slack-based measure of efficiency (SBM) models. One is a normal SBM, which includes only the total passenger volume as the desirable output. The other is a safety-constrained SBM, which includes marine accident records as an undesirable output with the desirable output of passenger transportation performance. We selected 44 coastal ferry operators in Korea that have been continuously operating for five years (2013–2017) as decision-making units (DMUs) and compared their operational efficiency scores. The results showed that the impact of marine accidents on business is greater in DMUs with lower transportation sales than in those with higher sales. This suggests that, while it is important for the government to strengthen safety regulations, a combination of policies that also help small ferry operators to stay in business in the long term is necessary to reduce marine accidents effectively while improving efficiency.
Highlights
Coastal ferries are an important mode of transportation that connects land and islands
The efficiency score ρ and ρ∗ denote each value obtained from the normal slack-based measure of efficiency (SBM) model and the safety-constrained SBM model
A comparison of efficiency score rankings between the normal SBM model and the safety-constrained SBM model showed that the ranking of these 37 decision-making units (DMUs) changed depending on marine accident records
Summary
Coastal ferries are an important mode of transportation that connects land and islands. With the revision of the Maritime Safety Act [2], the government created a maritime safety supervisor position in 2015 to provide regular guidance and supervise the safe operation of coastal ferries. The obligation to install a voyage data recorder (VCR), which is a black box for ships, was expanded to coastal ferries in September 2014, and the requirements for the installation of life jackets and escape aids were enhanced in December 2014. Despite such tightening of safety regulations, the possibility of marine accidents cannot be ruled out. In terms of operational efficiency, it would be preferable to use the available resources to maximize passenger transportation performance and minimize marine accidents during ferry operation
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