Data Tools to Identify Safety and Environmental Risks to the Marine Transportation System

Abstract

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Puget Sound Harbor Safety Committee of Washington State have developed a comprehensive, analytical approach to identify trends in vessel traffic, vessel deficiencies, accidents, and navigation incidents to avoid marine casualties and improve the safety of the marine transportation system. This paper describes a method that allows stakeholders and organizations to use data to improve decision making. First, vessel deficiencies based on more than 20 years of marine inspection data are examined to identify the vessels and systems that have the highest noncompliance rate. Inspection data are then compared with marine casualty data to examine trends and note vulnerabilities. Finally, marine casualties and navigation incidents are plotted with geographic information system software and compared with vessel traffic density. Figures are included to illustrate how data are compared and presented. Using a holistic and layered process to understand and analyze the data, stakeholders can reduce inefficiency in resource allocation, create a risk profile, and develop targeted measures to reduce the probability of an accident. In this paper, this approach is validated at the port level and offers significant potential to be applied nationally and internationally.