NTSB recently released its Safer Seas Digest for 2020, highlighting 42 marine accidents and safety lessons to prevent or mitigate future losses.
The 42 marine accidents included in Safer Seas Digest 2020 involved contact with fixed objects, sinkings, collisions, fires, explosions, floodings, groundings, and capsizings.
The vessels involved ranged from the small dive boat Conception, on which the loss of life nevertheless rivaled the worst maritime disasters of recent years, to a US Navy destroyer— the second such investigation completed in the last 2 years.
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The accidents recounted here resulted in numerous injuries, significant property damage, and worst of all, the loss of crewmembers and passengers. In the fire aboard the Conception alone, 34 lost their lives. This year also saw the conclusion of the investigation of the collision that took 11 lives aboard the Fitzgerald.
These tragedies remind us that whether we are serving in the nation’s armed forces, scuba diving for recreation,
fishing on a trawler, or keeping commodities flowing on tankers and freighters, we are all reliant on the safety measures that must be in place before we step aboard.
….as Jennifer Homendy, NTSB Chair said.
The safety issues examined in the 2020 edition of Safer Seas include:
- Navigating through bridges
- Standard operating procedures
- Smoke detection
- Voyage planning and dynamic risk assessment
- Effective communication
- Operating in high-water/high-current conditions
- Lithium-ion battery hazards
- Crew training
- Vessel speed
- Storage of flammable or combustible materials
- Closing ventilation inlets during a fire
- Effective hull inspection and maintenance
- Inspection of control linkages
- Fatigue
The NTSB investigates the voyages that go wrong to ensure that future voyages go right, and, drawing from the findings of these accident investigations, we recommend safety improvements to prevent recurrences. It is up to the marine industry and its regulators in the US Coast Guard to act on these recommendations and lessons learned to improve marine safety.
EXPLORE NTSB SAFER SEAS 2020 REPORT HERE
