Dutch shipbuilder, Damen Shipyard, and US-based startup, Sea Machines Robotics, signed an alliance agreement to further investigate the adoption of collision avoidance functionality onboard Damen ships. The alliance aims at speeding up the adoption of several navigating technologies to increase autonomy levels on Damen-built vessels.
Following the second edition of UK Maib’s Safety Digest for 2020, it is presented a case where a cargo ship altered course and a ferry vessel applied astern power, in order to avoid collision.
A Hong Kong registered oil tanker collided with two fishing vessels in the waters of Japan Sea. Due to the collision, one of the fishing vessels capsized with a total of 13 lives lost aboard.
AMSA has issued an updated Marine Notice that serves as a reminder to operators on the importance of adhering to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (known as the Collision Regulations or COLREGs ) to reduce the risk of collision at sea.
The Maritime Police Agency of South Korea announced that it will establish a ‘Ship Traffic Control Technology Development Team’ to prevent drunk traffic accidents in the sea by using big data and artificial intelligence technology.
The Merchant Shipping Notice 11 of 2020, establishing a routeing system for the southwest Indian waters, enters into effect on 1st August 2020. The system comes in response to a number of collisions of fishing vessels in the busy sea route in the area.
The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (“COLREGS”), as amended, provides general rules to be followed in order to avoid collisions at sea where good seamanship should complement these rules. There has been a significant number of collisions where misuse of VHF radio equipment and AIS information has been established to be a contributory factor.
OCIMF published a safety bulletin highlighting the importance of verifying the level of awareness and familiarity vessel personnel have with key learnings, procedures and regulations affected by the Sanchi collision.
On April 15 2020, Fujitsu Limited verified that the results of a joint field trial with the Japan Coast Guard to predict vessel collisions with AI technology were successful. Specifically, the company’s AI technology will be used to detect collision risks early and mitigate the danger of such accidents.
Learning from mistakes is vital for preventing casualties and mariners have much to gain from studying the judgements of court cases, which contain valuable lessons for the future. But to what extend is it practical for mariners to read such court documents?
