Maintaining and researching port safety: a case study of the port of Kaohsiung

Abstract

IntroductionMaintaining port safety in full conformity with IMO standards is a requisite for every port and country. To do this, understanding the challenges and human factors involved is key. To date, much research has shed valuable light on these factors and considered how to address them. One aspect that is often noted is that both maintaining port safety and researching port safety presents numerous challenges. This paper considers both these aspects in the context of a case study of port safety in Kaohsiung port, Taiwan.MethodsHistorical data and data from in-depth interviews with port operators and government officials are presented, analysed, and discussed alongside the literature.Results and conclusionIn the spirit of case study research, discussion and conclusions of the data are used to generate theory for consideration in ways to approach research in the field. Specifically, more holistic large scale research is recommended into how port safety is maintained, to explore the interdependencies of the factors involved to help improve port safety and complement and sit alongside our current understandings of it. Suggestions for how this research can be approached are made.