Research on the Risk Assessment of Man Overboard in the Performance of Flag Vessel Fleet (FVF)

Abstract

The performance of Flag Vessels impressed the viewers deeply at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Safety of the trainees is a key factor considered by the organizer in the course of trainings, rehearsals and final performances. The complex chevron shape of the fleet increased the risk of collision, grounding, wave damage, etc. In this paper, a formal safety assessment (FSA) method recommended by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) was adopted to guarantee/assess the safety of the performers, especially to decrease the risk of a man overboard. The FSA includes five steps: Hazard Identification (HAZID), Risk Assessment (RA), Risk Control Options (RCOs), Cost Benefit Assessment (CBA), and Recommendations for Decision Making (RDM). In this paper, brainstorming and fault tree analysis (FTA) methods were both used in the HAZID step. Then the combination of the two indexes was employed to calculate the risk distribution of the fleet in the RA step. One is the possibility of man overboard and the other is the consequence once the incident happens. Moreover, several RCOs were provided based on the risk distribution mentioned above. Finally, based on the results of the FSA, some suggestions were carried out to decrease the risk to performers according to CBA, such as personnel arrangement according to degree of risk in different areas of the fleet. In this paper, it has been proven that applying FSA methods to the fleet of flag vessels can reduce the overall degree of risk.