A new, independent study documents that 25 per cent of the world fleet represent more than 50 per cent of the world’s ship accidents. In the upper end; 25 per cent of the safest ships cause only 7 per cent of the total share of accidents. Tankers are safer than passenger vessels, and general cargo ships and bulk carriers are the ship types that are involved in most accidents. Ships in accidents are often owned by small shipping companies
As the safest 25 per cent of the world fleet in this representative sample, cause only 7 per cent of the world’s total ship accidents, the potential of a huge total reduction is formidable. By lifting the quality of the total world fleet up to the same level as the best 25 per cent performance category, there might be an overall reduction of 72 per cent in the number of ship accidents.
According to the study, more ship accidents occur in periods of decline in the world economy than in periods of expansion. The considered companies experienced a multiplication in accident frequency when the economical conditions turned from good to poor. Thereby, companies in the same shipping segment do not only follow the same economical conjunctures but also experience accidents roughly at the same times. The biggest shipping companies have in general a lower accident rate and are less influenced by the economic cycles.
These results are taken from the doctoral thesis of Torkel Soma at DNV Maritime Solutions, published by the University of Technology and Science (NTNU) in Norway.
Old ships, more exposed to accidents
The accident rate rises with the age of the vessels. The study reveals a significant rise in accident frequency when the ships turn 15 years old. Even so, the study ascertains that technical matters are rarely the cause of accidents. Human error is the most common cause.
“Building a new ship requires a huge amount of capital and this is not available to all shipping companies. Therefore, the new ships are ordered by large companies and enter a predefined route or a lasting time-charter agreement. By the time ships are 15 years old, the loans on them have mainly been repaid and at this point in time there is often a change in ownership,” says Torkel Soma in DNV Maritime Solutions.
Smaller ship owners, poorer safety culture
“The new owners are often smaller companies having a shorter business horizon and have an immature culture to proactively manage safety,” says Torkel Soma.
Shipping companies that have the poorest safety culture often focus on hierarchical issues and procedures rather than on the impact these should have on safety, according to the study.
Poor port state control results
Characteristics of the ships involved in most accidents are that they belong to small shipping companies with one to three ships, are often more than 20 years old, and have often achieved poor port state control results.
The safest ships often belong to the biggest and oldest shipping companies in the world, are less than 15 years old and are registered in Asia, Europe or the US.