Explanations of Terms and Abbreviations
Marine accident
The Marine Accidents Inquiry Law defines a marine accident as follows:
(Marine Accident)
Article 2 An accident shall be construed as occurrence of the marine accidents by this Law falling under any of those items as follows:
1. When any vessel is damaged, or when any facility other than the vessel is damaged in relation to operation of the vessel;
2. When any person is killed or injured in relation to the construction, equipment or operation of the vessel;
3. When any safety or navigation of the vessel is impeded.
In summary, Paragraph 1 defines "damage to things," Paragraph 2 "personal fatalities and injuries" and Paragraph 3 "other marine accidents."
Vessels
The Marine Accidents Inquiry Law applies to all water craft used as a means of transportation on water.
These include not only self-propelled craft, but also those without propulsive machinery, and the law does not discriminate in its application depending on the type or the size of vessel. Surfboards, sailboards, water skis and other equipment used for marine leisure activities are not regarded as vessels.
Waters
The Marine Accidents Inquiry Law applies to all bodies of water in the world: if a marine accident occurs in a creek, river, lake or other body of water in Japan or in Japanese territorial waters, the law applies to foreign flag vessels (excluding public vessels and others having extraterritorial rights) and Japanese vessels, while if the accident occurs in a river or lake in a foreign country or in the territorial waters of a foreign country, or on the high sea, the Law applies to Japanese vessels only.
Categories of marine accidents
There are many types of marine accidents. For the purpose of inquiry, these accidents are divided into the following categories:
・ Collision: an accident in which a vessel collides or comes in contact with another which is underway or otherwise, resulting in damage to either vessel
・ Collision (single): an accident in which a vessel collides or comes in contact with facilities, such as a wharf, jetty or light buoy, resulting in damage to the vessel or to both the vessel and the facility
・ Grounding: an accident in which a vessel runs aground on or touches a shoal, reef, underwater wreck, etc., and suffers damage to the hull below the water line
・ Foundering: an accident in which a vessel loses buoyancy owing to, for example, the ingress of water, and sinks below the water's surface
・ Capsizing: an accident in which a vessel loses stability due to a cargo shift, flooding, the application of the rudder, etc., and capsizes or turns turtle on one side and remains floating in this state
・ Distress: an accident that is difficult to classify into a single marine accident category because the causes and patterns of the accident are complex or it does not qualify for any other category
・ Missing: an accident in which a vessel has gone missing
