Chapter 5 Causes of Marine Accidents
Section 1 Causes of marine accidents
A thorough and scientific investigation of a marine accident from all possible angles is necessary to determine its cause and prevent the occurrence of similar accidents in the future. Accordingly, Article 3 of the Law prescribes that inquiries must investigate
1) whether the case is caused by intent or negligence of any person;
2) whether the case is ascribable to the number of crew on board, qualification or technical ability, labor condition or the term of service;
3) whether the case is ascribable to the construction, material or workmanship of the hull or engine, or to the equipment or ability of the vessel;
4) whether the case is ascribable to such aids for navigation as chart and publication, navigation mark, maritime communication, meteorological information, or salvaging facility;
5) whether the case is ascribable to the conditions of the port, harbor or waterway.
In pronouncing a judgment, the Marine Accidents Inquiry Agency, a collegiate body, indicates facts found and the causes of a marine accident. In some cases, the agency may indicate two or more causes for a single accident.
This chapter looks at marine accidents upon which judgments were pronounced in 1998 and, through systematical analysis of these accidents, indicates the characteristics of and recent trends in marine accidents.
Section 2 Causes of marine accidents in judgments pronounced by Local Marine Accidents Inquiry agencies (first instance)
In 1998, Local Marine Accidents Inquiry agencies pronounced judgments upon 792 accidents involving 1,180 vessels. Of the total, 28 were not self-propelled vessels, i.e., they were either being towed or pulled when they were involved in an accident, and 70 were judged not to have contributed to the accidents in which they were involved, e.g., vessels that had been struck by other vessels but had not themselves committed any transgression. All of the remaining 1,082 vessels were found culpable in some way, with 1,497 individual contributing causes cited (Table 5-2-1).
1. Causes of marine accidents by the category of accident
The causes of marine collisions, groundings and machinery failure - the top three categories in terms of the number of accidents upon which judgments were pronounced in 1998 - were as follows:
(1) Causes of collisions
Judgments were pronounced on 331 collisions involving 696 vessels in 1998, with 919 causes indicated. Of the 696 vessels involved, 620 were determined to have contributed to the accident in question.
The leading cause of marine accidents overall in 1998 was improper lookout, which was cited in 410 cases, equivalent to 44.6% of the total; followed by non-compliance with steering and sailing rules, which was cited in 194 cases, or 21.1% of the total; and failure to sound signals; which was cited in 89 cases, or 9.7% of the total (Table 5-2-2)
