Maritime Casualty Research Articles

An Assessment of the Qualification and Competency of Maritime Casualty Investigators of the Maritime Safety Services Command: Inputs for Enhancement

An Assessment of the Qualification and Competency of Maritime Casualty Investigators of the Maritime Safety Services Command: Inputs for Enhancement

A Statistical Analysis of Ship Accidents (1990–2020) Focusing on Collision, Grounding, Hull Failure, and Resulting Hull Damage

In this work, over a thousand maritime casualty reports were reviewed in order to fully investigate and assess selected 213 marine accidents concerning the collision, grounding, and hull failure of ships, which occurred during the time period of 1990–2020, worldwide. Ship type and vessels’ main characteristics, as well as the cause of accidents, were categorized and analyzed statistically. The statistical software IBM SPSS© Statistics v.29 was employed for the investigation of a possible association between the above set criteria. Furthermore, the location and the extent of hull damage was extracted for all incidents, providing valuable insights into the resulting consequences for vessel integrity. These data are essential for estimating the accident’s impact on the viability of the ship, crew, and cargo. According to the main results obtained, significant correlations are deduced regarding the analyzed parameters. In collision accidents, these include the ship type, the location of the damage, visibility and age of the ship, the impact of the accident, and the type of casualty. In the case of grounding incidents, correlations emerge involving the type of ships, day/night period, the width of the resulting damage, the type of casualty, and the cause of accidents.

A data-driven risk model for maritime casualty analysis: A global perspective

Maritime casualty analysis needs to be addressed given the increasing safety demand in the field due to the accidents’ low-frequency and high-consequence features. This paper aims to delve deeper into the factors that affect maritime accident casualties by establishing a new database and conducting an accident casualty evolution analysis. Based on the refined dataset, a pure data-driven Bayesian Network (BN) model is developed to conduct the casualty analysis of maritime accidents that occurred under different ship operational conditions. Methodologically, it introduces new risk factors to improve maritime casualty analysis accuracy through the enriched updated maritime accident database. Furthermore, the new database is categorised into five new datasets based on temporal development trends to better analyse the evolution of the casualty. Five risk analysis models are individually constructed based on different timeframes to illustrate the dynamics of the casualties and compared by seven evaluation indexes to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed data-driven BN model. It, for the first time, investigates the changing roles of different risk factors on maritime casualties with time. The insights gained from this model are invaluable, contributing to improved risk prediction and maritime safety strategies by acknowledging the changing patterns of maritime accidents.

A framework estimating the minimum sample size and margin of error for maritime quantitative risk analysis

The average accident frequency is essential for quantitative risk analysis and is conventionally estimated from accident statistics. This paper has systematically synthesised the knowledge on statistical errors and offered the missing instructions, a framework, for determining the minimum sample size and the margin of error (MOE) when calculating the average accident frequency from an accident database at hand. We have applied this framework to representative accident datasets in the maritime domain and presented the revealing results that can already be used in QRAs based on these datasets. The findings are useful to both QRA analysts and policy makers. Interestingly, the framework application has revealed that the determined minimum sample sizes would exceed the datasets available in existing maritime casualty databases by decades, requiring at least 10% MOE to be factored into pertinent QRAs. By the same token, the earlier notable QRAs (developed as part of formal safety assessments in support of rule making) had to consider the MOE of over 30%, given the sample sizes used, likely shifting the conclusions they arrived at. Other findings of the application have shown that the average accident frequencies for large passenger ships have remained constant over the past 40 years.

해묘를 놓고 있는 선박의 항법상 지위에 관한 고찰 - 해양안전심판원의 재결을 중심으로 -

Many vessels fishing in the waters of Far East Asia, including Korea, use bright fish-luring lights that are activated after laying sea anchor. Winter cutlass fishing vessels operate similarly to the cuttle fishing vessels in the Coast of Korea. The legal status of any vessel fishing while laying a sea anchor is not explicitly stipulated in the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (hereafter referred to as ‘COLREG’) and the Maritime Safety Act. The Japan Maritime Casualty Tribunal classifies such fishing vessels as a power-driven vessel underway in accordance with sailing rules, and also a vessel laying sea anchor. However, the Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal judges it as a vessel at anchor, power-driven vessel underway, temporarily drifting vessel, vessel laying sea anchor, vessel restricted in her ability to manoeuvre or vessels engaged in fishing, and so on. In terms of the legal status of any vessels fishing while laying a sea anchor, the Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal has a common view that a sea anchor must be installed on the catching vessel for fishing purposes, with the vessel being restricted in her maneuverability as required by sailing rules. However, it is believed that they reached a different conclusion regarding the extent to which vessel fishing while laying a sea anchor impacts compliance with the sailing rules stipulated in COLREG and the Maritime Safety Act. In 2011, the Central Maritime Safety Tribunal judged that the No. 3 Sangmu which is fishing laying sea anchor, was a vessel engaged in fishing. However, the Regional Maritime Safety Tribunal determined otherwise, designating the vessel as a power-driven vessel underway(temporarily drifting vessel). This study analyzed marine accidents on vessels laying a sea anchor based on the judgments of Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal. As a result, from the point of view of legal stability and purpose, I suggested that the term “vessel laying sea anchor” should be defined newly and a vessel laying a sea anchor for fishing or waiting for fishing should be included in “vessel engaged in fishing” through the amendment of the Maritime Safety Act.

Lag State Jurisdiction of the Maldives: Protection and Preservation of the Marine Environment from Vessel Source Pollution

The Maldivian archipelago is located in an area with an immensely high risk of vessel source pollution. Due to the low-lying, scattered island temperament and lack of clean-up technology and resources, if a maritime casualty were to occur in and around the Maldives, the country may not survive, at least socio-economically. Under the international legal framework, flag States have a legal responsibility to ensure that their vessels comply with international law, wherever the vessels are located. This article identifies and analyses the gaps between the international legal framework and the national legal framework for the protection and preservation of the marine environment from vessel source pollution, applicable to the flag States of Maldives.

선주책임제한권 배제 합의의 가부 및 그 합의의 해석 - 영국 추밀원의 “The Cape Bari” 사건 판결을 중심으로 대법원 2015. 11. 17. 선고 2013다61343 판결에 대한 비판적 고찰 -

The shipowner’s right to limit liability is a statutory right under Article 769 of Korean Commercial Act. Regarding such statutory rights, there arise questions of whether such statutory rights can be contracted out and whether certain clause can be interpreted as contracting out of statutory rights. The Korean Supreme Court ruled in 2013Da61343 case that, the parties can contract out of Article 769 as it is a non-mandatory provision, and considering types of damages the carrier agreed to bear under the contract at hand, the phrase in the contract could be interpreted as contracting out of the statutory right to limit liability. A similar case was presented to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. The Privy Council ruled that the limitation of liability is a shipowner’s right under 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, and parties can contract out of it as there is no prohibiting provision within the Convention. However, if such waiver is not clear from contract clauses, one should find the meaning that the words of the contract would convey to a reasonable person having the background knowledge which would reasonably have been available to the parties when the contract was made. Furthermore, statutory rights would be considered to apply by the contracting parties, and thus clear express words must be used in order to rebut such consideration. The Privy Council concluded that phrases like “all and any damages” and “harmless” could not be considered as clear express words to waiver the shipowner’s right to limit liability. There are many interpretation methods of contract, such as natural interpretation, normative interpretation and complementary interpretation, for cases where phrases are not sufficient enough to understand contracting parties’ intention. Furthermore, there are many standards and views on each method, and thus, the result of interpretation could be different from one court to another. However, there is great need to analyze different results to understand a standard for reasonable interpretation to determine whether statutory right is contracted out, because the shipowner’s right to limit liability has been a right under maritime law for a long time, and it is the last resort for the shipowner in maritime casualty.

A study on maritime casualty investigations combining the SHEL and Hybrid model methods

This paper reviews the analysis of a given scenario according to the Hybrid Model, and why accident causation models are necessary in casualty investigations. The given scenario has been analyzed according to the Hybrid Model using its main five components, fallible decisions, line management, psychological precursors to unsafe acts, unsafe acts, and inadequate defenses. In addition, the differences between the SHEL and the Hybrid Model, and the importance of a safety barrier during an accident investigation, are shown in this paper. One unit of SHEL can be linked with another unit of SHEL. However, it cannot be used for the analysis of an accident. Therefore, we must use an accident causation model, which can be a Hybrid Model. This can explain the “How” and “Why” of accident, so it is a suitable model for analyzing them. During an accident investigation, the reason we focus on a safety barrier is to create another safety barrier or to change an existing safety barrier if that barrier fails. Hence, the paper shows how a sea accident can be investigated, and we propose a preventive way of avoiding the accident through combining the methods of different models for the future.

Evaluating cold, wind, and moisture protection of different coverings for prehospital maritime transportation-a thermal manikin and human study.

Prehospital maritime transportation in northern areas sets high demands on hypothermia prevention. To prevent body cooling and hypothermia of seriously-ill or injured casualties during transportation, casualty coverings must provide adequate thermal insulation and protection against cold, wind, moisture, and water splashes. The aim of this study was to determine the thermal protective properties of different types of casualty coverings and to evaluate which would be adequate for use under difficult maritime conditions (cold, high wind speed, and water splashes). In addition, the study evaluated the need for thermal protection of a casualty and verified the optimum system for maritime casualty transportation. The study consisted of two parts: (1) the definition and comparison of the thermal protective properties of different casualty coverings in a laboratory; and (2) the evaluation of the chosen optimum protective covering for maritime prehospital transportation. The thermal insulations of ten different casualty coverings were measured according to the European standard for sleeping bags (EN 13537) using a thermal manikin in a climate chamber (-5°C) with wind speeds of 0.3 m/s and 4.0 m/s, and during moisture simulations. The second phase consisted of measurements of skin and core temperatures, air temperature, and relative humidity inside the clothing of four male test subjects during authentic maritime prehospital transportation in a partially-covered motor boat. Wind (4 m/s) decreased the total thermal insulation of coverings by 11%-45%. The decrement of thermal insulation due to the added moisture inside the coverings was the lowest (approximately 22%-29%) when a waterproof reflective sheet inside blankets or bubble wrap was used, whereas vapor-tight rescue bags and bubble wrap provide the most protection against external water splashes. During authentic maritime transportation lasting 30 minutes, mean skin temperature decreased on average by 0.5°C when a windproof and water-resistant rescue bag was used over layered winter clothing. The selected optimum rescue bag consisted of insulating and water-resistant layers providing sufficient protection against cold, wind, and water splashes during prehospital transportation lasting 30 minutes in the uncovered portion of a motor boat. The minimum thermal insulation for safe maritime transportation (30 minutes) is 0.46 m²K/W at a temperature of -5°C and a wind speed of 10 m/s.

A NATIONAL REVIEW OF AUSTRALIA'S MARITIME ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE ARRANGEMENTS

ABSTRACT Australia's National Plan for Maritime Environmental Emergencies (‘the National Plan’) is a cooperative national strategy for the preparing, responding and recovering from maritime casualty and marine pollution incidents. A review of the National Plan was conducted between 2011 and 2012 following a series of shipping and offshore petroleum incidents which presented the most significant challenges to National Plan since its inception in 1973. The Review incorporated two streams of work – a national risk assessment modelled the current and 10 year outlook of the marine pollution threat to Australia and a capability analysis, involving consultation with over 90 stakeholder groups, identified areas for improvement in national preparedness. Forty-seven recommendations were forthcoming from the review including:Implementing a modern governance model for the National Plan, clarifying responsibilities and providing for the formal engagement of stakeholders.Alignment of planning and response systems with mainstream emergency services to improve the national response capability.Implementing a single response arrangement for maritime casualty and oil and chemical pollution.Addressing gaps in capability, including the development of a national chemical response capability, nationally accredited training and succession planning for the National Response Team. This paper describes the conduct of the Review, the significant outcomes for Australia's preparedness and the ongoing program to embed these outcomes into all levels of response planning in Australia.

Methods of Vessel Casualty Process Assessment

Maritime casualty is an event of considerable economic and social impact. For this reason, implemented the reporting systems of accidents at sea, and the Administration was obligated to establish a Commission of Maritime Accidents. On the basis of casualty analysis and reports are developed proposals preventing similar casualties in the future. However, there is no uniform evaluation system which check references of existing regulations and recommendations to the occurred casualties. This paper presents a method to evaluate the used methods of casualty prediction with respect to the real incident and catastrophe.

선장의 리더십과 의사결정에 관한 연구

해상에서 인명과 재산을 보호하기 위해서는 해양사고를 예방하고 긴급상황 시에 신속하게 대처하는 능력이 중요시된다. 해양사고의 80%가 선박의 운항과 관리에 관련된 인적요인으로 발생한다. 그것은 대부분의 해양사고가 한 개인의 순간적인 실수에서 유발되는 것이 아니라 그 배경에는 인적과실을 유발하는 잠재적인 요인들이l 복합적으로 작용한다는 것을 나타낸다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 선박에서 선상의 리더십이 선박에 미치는 영향과 선박의 의사결정 과정을 알아보고 특히, 선박의 긴급상황 시에 발생할 수 있는 행동특성의 이해를 통하여 특정선박에서 인적과실을 줄이기 위한 해결방안 및 대응전략을 제시하였다. It is very important for ability to be treated to protect and secure the loss of life and property in emergency situation at sea. 80% of maritime casualty are incurred by human factors rather than a mechanical reason, which means that most maritime incident does not come from only one factor by mistake, but multiple potential factors causing a fault and error. Therefore, after research of the leadership effect to the ship, decision making process and behavior characteristics occurred in emergency situation, this paper presents settlement scheme and strategy in order to reduce human error in the ship.

Underreporting of maritime accidents to vessel accident databases

Underreporting of maritime accidents is a problem not only for authorities trying to improve maritime safety through legislation, but also to risk management companies and other entities using maritime casualty statistics in risk and accident analysis.This study collected and compared casualty data from 01.01.2005 to 31.12.2009, from IHS Fairplay and the maritime authorities from a set of nations. The data was compared to find common records, and estimation of the true number of occurred accidents was performed using conditional probability given positive dependency between data sources, several variations of the capture–recapture method, calculation of best case scenario assuming perfect reporting, and scaling up a subset of casualty information from a marine insurance statistics database.The estimated upper limit reporting performance for the selected flag states ranged from 14% to 74%, while the corresponding estimated coverage of IHS Fairplay ranges from 4% to 62%. On average the study results document that the number of unreported accidents makes up roughly 50% of all occurred accidents. Even in a best case scenario, only a few flag states come close to perfect reporting (94%).The considerable scope of underreporting uncovered in the study, indicates that users of statistical vessel accident data should assume a certain degree of underreporting, and adjust their analyses accordingly. Whether to use correction factors, a safety margin, or rely on expert judgment, should be decided on a case by case basis.

파랑중 손상선박의 거동에 관한 이론적 실험적 연구

To improve maritime safety, it is very important not only to make safer design and operation but also to do proper response in case of maritime casualty. The large-scaled casualties will be caused by loss of structural strength and stability due to the progressive flooding and enlargement of damage by the effect of waves and wind. To prevent foundering and structural failure, the prediction of ship motion behavior of damaged ship in wave is necessary. This paper describes the motion behavior of damaged ship in waves through theoretical and experimental studies. A time domain theoretical model of damaged ship motions and accidental flooding, which can be applied to any type of ship or arrangement and considers the effects of flooding of compartments, has been developed. The model tests have been carried out in regular and irregular waves with different wave heights and directions in ship motion basin. Those were performed for three different damaged conditions such as engine room bottom damage, side shell damage and bow visor damage of a Ro-Ro ship. Comparison of theoretical and experimental results was performed.

台風0423号による海王丸海難時の気象解析

台風0423号による海王丸海難時の気象解析

Causes of casualties and the regulation of occupational health and safety in the shipping industry

The aim of this paper is to investigate maritime safety from an occupational hazards perspective as opposed to a maritime casualty perspective. It is recognised that safety in shipping should encompass casualties arising from accidents occurring in the course of performing normal seafaring duties, not just those arising from technical defects or maritime disasters. The paper discusses an investigation involving a survey of 19 flag states and two detailed studies of records kept at the Hong Kong and Singapore maritime administrations. The results indicate that occupational accidents account for a significant proportion of fatalities at sea. The statistics presented specify the ship types that are most at risk, as well as the types of occupational hazards that can most frequently lead to accidents and fatalities. The results of this study indicate voids in the process of investigating fatalities that relate to occupational accidents. These results also indicate inadequate investigation of events and causes. The creation of a database of such information could potentially be used for the development of appropriate regulations that could prevent fatal and non-fatal occupational accidents through regulatory processes.

台風9905号による「フェリーむろと」海難の気象解析

Meteorological factors of the maritime casualty of Ferry Muroto occurred on July 27, 1999 are investigated through the comprehensive analysis of meteorological observation data and results of the numerical simulation with a mesoscale model. From the analysis, it is found that 1) the wind of Typhoon 9905 was the strongest near the Shikoku Island bescause of the pressure gradient intensified between the typhoon and the North Pacific High, and 2) the maritime casualty occurred just when the spiral rain band was passing over the accident site. The results of this study indicate that a maritime casualty can occur even outside of the radius of 15m/s wind speed of a typhoon and that navigators and operation supervisors have to take account of the locally-intensified wind area around the typhoon and the passage of the spiral rain band, which might cause severe weather conditions.

海難事故の人間工学的研究 : 日本人間工学会人的事故調査マニュアルを用いて

There are a lot of human errors causing casualties at sea. We conducted ergonomic analysis of the casualty of Touya Maru, which is the worst fatal maritime casualty in Japan in 1945, the casualty of Yamato Maru in 1977, and two other cases. The accidents factor 4M (Man, Machine, Media, Management) was applied to analyze the accidents in the same methods as aircraft accidents investigation. We tried to extract some human factors by using "The human accidents investigation manual" of Japan Ergonomic society. From the result of this analysis, the Touya Maru accident occurred due to the captain's misjudgments, the delay of weather information and other factors, and the Yamato Maru case occurred due to the ambiguous operation rule in the typhoons, adding to the same factors of the Touya Maru case. If one of the accidents factors can be removed, the accidents might have been able to be prevented.

Development of evacuation model for human safety in maritime casualty

The maritime casualties lead to loss of life, property and environmental pollution. The possibility of large amount of loss of life will be increased in case of passenger ship casualty especially. To reduce loss of life, therefore, evacuation analysis is very import in ship design stage. This paper presents development of intelligent ship evacuation model, which can solve problems caused by complex configuration and motion of ship. It consists of general features of evacuation models, dynamics model, and intelligent human behaviour model. All these features of the evacuation model can be summarized as “the integration of intelligent human behaviour model and dynamics model”.

A Study on the Analysis System of Voyage Data Recorder

According to SOLAS Convention, a voyage data recorder(VDR) is to be fitted onboard ships to assist in the marine casualty investigation However, a review of Korean Maritime Safety tribunal(KMST), shows that the current VDR systems is inconvenient in practical because the storage format of VDR and the casualty reproduction method are different from one manufacturer to another making it economically and timely difficult for the maritime casualty investigation bodies to carry out investigation in a proper manner. To solve this problem, this paper proposed a newly designed VDR Analysis System(VDRAS), which decodes the voyage data of VDR producea by different manufacturers, reproduces the condition at the time of casualty in an accurate, and performs necessary checks.