Marine Safety on Board Vessel

Posted: March 19th, 2023

Marine Safety on Board Vessel

1. Introduction

Marine safety is an important aspect of the shipping industry – a multi-billion dollar industry that carries 90% of world trade. Ensuring safety on board vessels is crucial in preventing loss of life at sea, protecting the marine environment, and promoting efficient navigation. In recent years, the issue of marine safety has gained significant attention from industry professionals, researchers, and policy makers. There is a growing body of literature that investigates different aspects of marine safety such as safety management, safety culture, human factors, and technological innovation. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), which is the global standard-setting authority for the safety, security and environmental performance of international shipping, has continuously introduced new regulations and measures to enhance marine safety. For example, as part of the IMO’s ongoing work on autonomous ships, the Maritime Safety Committee approved interim guidelines related to the trials of autonomous ships in 2018. As stated by the IMO, the adoption of innovative technologies and the increased level of automation on ships raise new challenges to the human element and the role of seafarers in the operation of vessels and the prevention of marine casualties. By addressing the human, organizational and technological challenges connected with the introduction of greater levels of automation onboard ships, the guidelines aim to facilitate the testing of innovative projects in a real environment and to help the industry to apply the best practices in the development and implementation of these projects. As a positive sign, the number of marine casualties and incidents has shown a general downward trend over the past 10 years, although minor fluctuation in some years can be observed. For instance, in 2017, the total of reported shipping incidents, including actual or potential injury to persons or damage to ships and other property, decreased by 4.5% compared to 2016. On the other hand, the number of persons killed or reported missing as a result of a marine casualty has steadily decreased over the past ten years, with an overall reduction of about 20% from 2008 to 2017. This demonstrates that the efforts made by maritime stakeholders and the implementation of stricter regulations and advanced technologies have indeed led to improved marine safety in practice. Last but not least, it is noteworthy that the importance of marine safety goes beyond the immediate needs of the shipping industry and it carries important implications to global efforts for sustainable development. The IMO has identified 8 key pillars of the international regulatory framework that significantly influence the safety and environmental performance of shipping, and one of which is to “integrate, through appropriate mechanisms in IMO, a culture promoting a responsible concern for the safety of human life and property and the environment”.

1.1. Background

Marine safety is a very important aspect of the maritime industry, for both the personnel who work on board vessels and the marine environment in which they operate. Over the years, safety on board vessels has been a major concern for many maritime professionals and stakeholders. Every day, these professionals continue to push for a safer working environment. According to Slack (2006), who is a maritime lecturer in New Zealand, it is generally believed that safety measures on board vessels are inadequate and not enough has been done. Furthermore, he argues that not much research has been carried out focusing on vessels, especially the smaller ones, like the ones operating in the fishing and domestic trades. According to the International Labour Organisation, the vast majority of all accidents at sea can be attributed to one main factor: human error. It clearly pays that these accidents could be prevented should better legal and technical standards be in place in terms of the safety devices that are fitted to the vessels. Focusing on just the New Zealand area, already for the year 2005, there were 109 reported accidents and 7 fatalities. However, he added that not all accidents will end up being recorded properly, especially for the smaller vessels. This is because there is not any strict criterion or classification for different types of accidents. This background information points out that there is a significant lack of clarity and acute discrimination in accidents turn out to be fatal or not on board vessels.

1.2. Purpose of the Dissertation

Through achieving these three key research objectives, which are to review the existing maritime safety and communicate the finding with the maritime industry and, lastly, understand the research contributing to the academic knowledge to what makes a good maritime safety from the industry. Overall, this study is anticipated to offer perspectives both from industry practice and academic research in the context of commercial shipping. There was exclusion of rigorous scientific research and experimentation, over which the shipping safety management basically conducts, the focus here is on ‘what makes a good maritime safety’ from practice based research rather than ‘why meaningful maritime accidents happens’ from scientific research.

Finally, the dissertation seeks to bridge the gap between academic research and industry practices in marine safety. By examining the latest developments and trends in marine safety and discussing the practical implications of academic theories, the study aims to provide valuable insights for maritime professionals and industry leaders.

Secondly, the dissertation can help to raise awareness of marine safety among seafarers, shipping companies, and other stakeholders in the maritime industry. By highlighting the importance of marine safety and discussing the potential impact of safety issues, the dissertation can contribute to efforts to promote a ‘safety culture’ within the industry.

The study is important in several ways. First of all, the findings of the dissertation can be used to inform and guide the development of safety regulations and standards in the maritime industry. It is essential to have a clear understanding of the existing challenges and course hero issues in marine safety so that safety measures can be designed and implemented effectively.

The primary purpose of the dissertation is to explore the concept of marine safety on board vessels. It aims to provide a comprehensive review of the current state of marine safety in the maritime industry, with a focus on the commercial shipping sector. The dissertation also identifies the key challenges facing marine safety on board vessels and discusses the implications for the maritime industry.

1.3. Research Questions

How does cyber safety in the maritime industry benefit under the umbrella of the International Safety Management Code and what are the potential risks regarding the importance of marine safety in those immature smart equipment in this age?

What are the associated problems and barriers of effective safety management in a commercial maritime company from the perspective of modern information technology?

How does cyber safety in the maritime industry benefit under the umbrella of the International Safety Management Code and what are the potential risks regarding the importance of marine safety in those immature smart equipment in this age?

What are the principles of marine safety regulation as introduced in international, EU Members’ states? What are the challenges facing the maritime development today and how can the modern regulations on higher safety standards have positive effects on those challenges?

The research aims to answer the following main questions.

2. Literature Review

Hunmo and others (2012) defined maritime safety as a process of mitigating the risks on waterways, coastal areas, and seaports. It involves designing the waterfronts, ports, and vessels to operate in such places to reduce the risks associated with various types of marine activities. Secondly, it involves the management of various types of activities to reduce the likelihood that accidents will occur. Finally, it also includes the creation and maintenance of an overall culture of safety so that all types of marine activities can be undertaken in a least risky environment.

Pike and Hime (1984) defined marine safety as a “risk management system to achieve safe marine operation.” Marine safety can be considered as a set of combination system-procedural, managerial, and cultural measures to respond to the obligation to provide protection from hazards on the sea, islands, and coastal waters during shipping. According to Peck (1998), a new and broader definition of marine safety is necessary to reflect various social, technical, and functional changes in the marine industry.

Modern ships are technologically advanced and capable of managing, monitoring, and controlling all areas of operation. However, despite this fact, marine accidents have been haunting ship operations for a very long period of time. Lots of research has been conducted on marine safety to find out various kinds of accidents, their causes, and how to prevent them and enhance marine safety measures.

2.1. Overview of Marine Safety

Marine safety is a broad and important topic that has been researched and studied over many years. Basically, marine safety is the achievement of a safe working environment in the shipping industry. This is likely to be advocated by having all the crew members in the ship working together and keeping maximum care in order to avoid accidents and damage to the ships, cargoes as well as the crew members. Marine transportation, as a key part of the whole transportation system, has a significantly large impact on the global economy and there are increasing needs to enhance its safety. Many people, ranging from the industry stakeholders to the general public, have vested interests in the safety of marine transportation. As a result, a comprehensive and unambiguous interpretation of marine safety will help facilitate advances in the safety of marine transportation by providing a common platform for agreement on safety strategies. By reviewing some of the key elements sweet study bay of marine safety at work, this section aims to provide a general introduction to marine safety. From the learning resources we can understand that the goal of maritime safety is to ensure that the maritime traffic is handled in a safe manner. Ships normally face a lot of traffic and large waves out in the oceans and the sailors should be free from any kind of danger. The safety procedures and training is very important for marine workers in making sure that they understand and mitigate the risks. On the other hand, we get information that marine safety involves carrying out risk assessment to evaluate the risks from the work. From the internet website “Occupational Safety and Health Administration”, it states that proper training of workers not only can minimize workplace accidents but also allows workers to respond quickly to any kind of accidents. Also, the safety procedures in the passage, refers to carrying out a careful health and safety assessment of the workplace. It is critical that every employee is aware of the rules and must follow the safety guidelines. On the contrary, in the passage, marine safety at work actually involves three elements and they are safety of the workers, safety of the workplace and also the safety of the machinery. Workers’ compensation and insurance is referred for the safety of the workers and the internet website “Occupational Safety and Health Administration” has provided a solution for dealing with the cost of work related injuries. It mentions that every state has a workers’ compensation program that is designed to pay for the medical costs required as a result of a workplace injury. On top of that, employees are protected from retaliation by employers for claiming compensation under law. For the safety of the workplace, the passage indicates that risk assessment is a key factor in maintaining workplace safety. In fact, risk assessment is central to the regime. Risk should be evaluated continuously, and action should be taken as necessary. The passage employs an example to illustrate the point that the moving parts of a machine present hazards to workers during use, such as cutting parts, rotating parts or reciprocating parts. Getting caught in a moving part is a sure way of getting a traumatic injury. Work safety has a great importance on the workers’ health and also efficiency. It is beneficial to the workers as workers can be free from any kind of dangers and can perform their duties in a great manner. On the other hand, workers are happy to work as the safety measures have everything take care of. When the workers are healthy, the productivity of the tasks will be increasing and it will lead to higher efficiency in the works. At the same time, workers’ safety and well-being will also have economic benefits such as reducing potential absences from work as a result of illnesses and reduce the cost of the work related injuries.

2.2. Key Factors Affecting Marine Safety

There are many different factors that can affect marine safety. As mentioned above, the human factor, in terms of inadequate knowledge, training or experience of the crew members, is the most commonly identified factor. This is however not limited to just the human factor, though this is perhaps the most widely acknowledged limit of the current systems. The International Safety Management (ISM) code, which is a mandatory regulation that was accepted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that all shipping companies should establish safety management systems, highlights the need for improvement for the quality of safety equipment and danger of the lack of communication and cooperation. This literature, however, focused on the impact of work and rest hours system and the challenge for improved work and rest hours system. In fact, according to the accidents and causal factors in merchant shipping report conducted by the Marine Accident Investigation Board (MAIB) in 2009, it was identified that there were a number of accidents resulting in a situation in which it was revealed that there was a very high probability that some members of the crew were suffering from chronic fatigue. Managing and controlling safety on board ship requires the identification of a range of different strategies that include proper investigation, analysis and assessment of the current safety practices, adopting and developing a positive safety culture, risk management and also the continuous feedback and monitoring. This section will provide a review on existing methodologies and new methodologies that have been developed in the last decades on managing and measuring safety on board vessels.

2.3. Previous Studies on Marine Safety

Marine safety has been a major area of research in the maritime field. There have been various studies on different aspects of marine safety over the years. Most of the previous studies have focused on specific safety issues and remedies in a particular segment of the maritime industry. For example, many researchers have focused on safety issues and remedies in the shipbuilding industry. However, in a recent work, quality risk analysis based on fault tree and FMEA methods was presented and tested in an accident in the operation of a Medium Range (MR) oil tanker and preliminary results seem to be promising. This work has been preliminary internationally awarded in two categories in MTECH2008. On the other hand, another work is focused on the evaluation of human error influencing ship’s operation in a given environmental condition and technological scenario. For this purpose, a Human Error Identification (HEI) workshop has been organized. In such workshop human error modes, influencing factors, consequences and recovery modes have been extracted from the participants in group discussions. These studies have involved not only researchers from the engineering field and the shipping industry, but also the local health and safety executive and the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which regulates the safety and security of commercial shipping. Such a multidisciplinary approach is also important, and in fact, found in another work that attempts to address the issues of training and familiarization of cruise industry employees for emergency preparedness. However, there is a lack of research and attempts to improve safety from an industry-wide perspective, as the amount of Bureau of Labor Statistics’ fatal occupational injury data related to the maritime industry case studies indicates.

2.4. Current Challenges and Trends in Marine Safety

In contemporary times, technological advancements in the field of communication and information technology have imparted a potential to vastly better the marine safety. As noted by Wang and Meng, the terrestrial and satellite-based communication systems are being refined and advanced at an unprecedented pace. It is expected that the terrestrial communication technology will increasingly become available and reliable research essay pro papers whilst satellite-based communication likely to be the leading choice for the shipping industry. These communication systems may be utilized in different ways in order to sophisticate the marine safety. For instance, an improved and real-time ship-to-shore communication will be made possible. Currently, except making a distress call or sending a message through Digital Selective Calling (DSC) radio to the coast guard, the master of a vessel can only rely on his own experience and judgement in decision making, particularly during emergencies. However, through a better ship-to-shore communication with more reliable and various data transmissions, large amount of important ship information can be monitored and collected from the shore side. As a consequence, shore-based experts and on-shore control centres can provide immediate and effective assistance. Moreover, automatic and regular data collection systems would also be made possible by these advanced communication, such as remote equipment monitoring, periodic performance and condition diagnostics et cetera. With real-time and shore-based feedback and assistance, marine incidents can be immediately managed and the damage can also be mitigated. On the other hand, marine safety will also benefit from the sophisticated Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) analysis that may become a major trend and challenge for the next few years. Driven by the exiguous investigation of casualties at sea, such as collision, foundering and allision, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) recently made mandatory that all ships, which were constructed after 2002, should be fitted with an automatic.

3. Methodology

The methodology section will explain the reasons for the choice of research methods and for the use of some particular data collection methods. Data analysis as a practical means of testing and justifying your hypothesis is covered. However, of equal significance at the very start of the methodology chapter, not only in terms of the order of the material but also how much depth you go into, is the concept of the dissertation itself. Unlike the standard structures explained in the previous model sub-sections, the method chapter often will begin with a relatively brief “introduction” which will place the method into perspective, and it will then move on to detailing more specific aspects as it progresses. The points to pay attention to in writing the method chapter is that it must be reader-friendly and provide enough detail for other researchers to decide whether to adopt the methodology, but not too much detail that it bores the reader. When writing a method chapter, however, the case study uses a standard model. The first in-depth case study uses a modified standard model and the second in-depth study uses the alternative model. This means that each in-depth case study must be written in a modified standard model using these sub-headings which relate to the points I describe above.

3.1. Research Design

The research will be conducted in the light of the research objective. An inductive approach will be adopted, which studies an observation, looks for patterns, develops a theory, and then validates it with the help of the data that is collected. The entire dissertation project will be developed on this research cycle. In this process, I will first make observations, after which, I will look for patterns. When patterns are found, I will develop a theory – indicated by the data and devised and developed into a working hypothesis. After the theory is developed, validated, and substantiated by the data, it can be used as a means of researching the next observation. This approach helps in building theory from the data and it is normally used in life sciences like biology, chemistry, etc. It can also be used in physical sciences such as physics and chemistry and normally it is based on the experiments. The output of the research will be a theory which will be discussed with the experts in the same field and the findings will be shared in the form of a research paper. It is ‘theory’ because one’s research builds on theory – it is interlinked, and that makes a theory ‘substantive’. It does not remain in theoretical space but actually comes out in the form of new discovery. Data will be collected from the ships during the routine visits, conducted by the author as part of MCA surveyor job, such as – initial, annual, renewal, intermediate, ISM safety audit, casualty investigation, etc. In addition to the visits, data will also be collected from the research papers, books, previous literature, internet, statutes, etc. from the shore-based establishment, in the leisure time. This library-based data will provide historical, legislative, and factual data to form the primary knowledge base of any developing theory.

3.2. Data Collection Methods

In a dissertation like this, a ‘mixed methods’ approach is often taken, meaning that there are essentially two types of research technique adopted – qualitative and quantitative – which are combined. First, let’s identify what primary data is, and how it differs from secondary data. Data can be described as primary or secondary data. Primary data is the data that is collected specifically for the purposes of the study at hand, and has not been used for a research study before. Alternatively, secondary data is information that has been collected by someone other than the user. This ‘mixed methods’ approach is therefore the most suitable research technique to adopt; it guarantees that a more complete and detailed picture can be built of an environment, by utilising a wide range of data sources and by providing the ability to cross-check and validate the findings. Coherent and focused data collection methods don’t only provide accurate and relevant evidence – it marks the difference between mere research and scientific research. It is a planned and systematic data gathering, and it also filters out all routine and unnecessary information. All information from the data sources is always recorded by selected means, which is called data collection methods. These incorporate interviews, investigations, and qualitative and quantitative techniques. Focus in the field and attention to detail is very important criteria for successful data examination. It is important to always keep sight of the research objectives and purposes, and also to remember the specific type of scientific research; in this case, ‘marine’ safety is the primary focus. So, the common starting point to the data collection methods is to establish the aims and objectives of the study itself, and to understand the type of scientific research which has been performed. This characterises the data analysis process as well, which can provide meaningful findings and results at the end. Every point makes perfect sense to me. First, we get a standard idea about the primary and the secondary data. Then, we look at why a ‘mixed methods’ approach is adopted in this dissertation and what the qualitative and the quantitative data gathering techniques are. The last but one is about the importance of having coherent and focused data collection methods in a scientific research, and somehow relate to the marine safety field. Well, the paragraph feels a bit quite lengthy. Maybe it is worth splitting it up into two separate paragraphs, for example the first and second paragraph here may form a small paragraph each. It has clearly been explained how the data collection should be done to achieve the best findings possible. And also the writer’s purpose and the choice of the review clearly has been announced, so the readers are kept informed throughout the writing. Also, I like the practical examples the other side has been provided, and followed by some comments on them. The whole manuscript is also logically organised which aids the development.

3.3. Data Analysis Techniques

Data analysis is a process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making. There are various different data analysis techniques. The emphasis of the current study is on the comparative analysis software, SaTScan, which has been developed to help in the early detection and interpretation of spatial and space-time clusters when monitoring the states of individual health and the environment. SaTScan is a free software for the analysis of spatial temporal data using the spatial, temporal, and space-time scan statistics. It is a widely used method for analyzing data but does not include all of the recent methodological developments. The program can be used for the analysis of data such as the presentation of clusters by the program and the cores of significant clusters, together with a user-friendly interface in which the user can specify the location and scale of a search analysis. The program is being constantly updated as bugs or errors become apparent and new developments in methods arise to help with the detection and analysis of clusters of different sizes and shapes, significance, and spa. It is a useful program in research of this kind. This methodology can further be explored to view a greater insight into the safety performance of the vessels on which the data was collected. The results of the study section can then be displayed by individual cluster or by SaTScan scan statistic value to assist in the assessment of the practical implications of the scientific findings.

4. Findings and Discussion

4.1. Analysis of Marine Safety Practices

4.2. Identification of Safety Gaps and Issues

4.3. Discussion of Findings in Relation to Literature

4.4. Implications for Maritime Industry