(8) Of the 861 groundings during the period, 44 resulted in fatalities and injuries. Accidents involving pleasure craft accounted for 16.7% of these cases, the largest group, followed by accidents involving passenger ships, which accounted for 10.9%. Fatalities and injuries numbered 205, comprising four of the former and 201 of the latter.
2. Causes of groundings
A total of 1,027 causes were cited for the 861 groundings, which involved 861 vessels, during the period. Of this total, failure to check vessel's position and crew member dozing off were indicated in 265 instances, or 25.8% of the total, while insufficient check of waterways, which was cited in 130 instances; poor selection and maintenance of course, identified in 98 instances; improper ship handling, indicated in 44 instances; insufficient consideration to weather and sea conditions, cited in 27 instances; and improper command or supervision of duties, identified in 141 instances.
Analysis of causes
a. Failure to check vessel's position (cited for 265, or 30.8%, of the 861 vessels involved in groundings during the period)
・ In the majority - 206, or 78.0% - of these vessels were being maneuvered by the master at the time of the accident, while 22, or 8.3%, were being maneuvered by a chief officer and 14, or 5.3%, by a deckhand.
・ Commonly suggested reasons for failure to check a vessel's position included visual (inaccurate) confirmation of islands and waterway landmarks; familiarity with the area and sufficient distance from shoals, etc., and insufficient directions at watch relief.
b. Dozing off (indicated for 265, or 30.8%, of the 861 vessels involved in groundings during the period)
・ For the majority of the groundings attributed to this cause - 64 cases, or 24.2% of the total - the accident occurred between one and two hours of watch relief.
・ Frequently cited reasons for why appropriate measures were not taken to prevent crew members from dozing off included confidence in ability to stay awake due to nearness to port (less than one hour), confidence in ability to stay awake despite exhaustion and sleepiness, and confidence in ability to maintain concentration and stay awake.
・ Reasons given for dozing off included work-induced exhaustion and work-induced lack of sleep.
c. Insufficient check of waterways (identified for 130, or 15.1%, of the 861 vessels involved in groundings during the period)
・ Nautical charts were on board 112, or 86.2%, of these vessels. However, 49, or 43.8%, of these vessels did not have charts of a sufficiently small scale.
・ Commonly given reasons for inadequate check of waterways included belief that passage was possible, reliance on instinct (i.e., confidence borne of long experience) and reliance on landmarks.
