4.4 Marine incident means an occurrence or event being caused by, or in connection with, the operations of a ship by which the ship or any person is imperilled, or as a result of which serious damage to the ship or structure or the environment might be caused.
4.5 Causes means actions, omissions, events, existing or pre-existing conditions or a combination thereof, which led to the casualty or incident.
4.6 Marine casualty, or incident safety investigation means a process held either in public or in camera conducted for the purpose of casualty prevention which includes the gathering and analysis of information, the drawing of conclusions, including the identification of the circumstances and the determination of causes and contributing factors and, when appropriate, the making of safety recommendations.
4.7 Marine casualty investigator means a person or persons qualified and appointed to investigate a casualty, or incident under procedures laid down in national legislation for the furtherance of marine safety and protection of the marine environment.
4.8 Serious injury means an injury which is sustained by a person in a casualty resulting in incapacitation for more than 72 hours commencing within seven days from the date of injury.
4.9 Ship means any kind of vessel which is used in navigation by water
4.10 Lead investigating State means the State that takes responsibility for the conduct of the investigation as mutually agreed between the substantially interested States.
4.11 Substantially interested State means a State:
.1 which is the flag State of a ship that is the subject of an investigation; or
.2 in whose internal waters or territorial sea a marine casualty has occurred; or
.3 where a marine casualty caused, or threatened, serious harm to the environment of that State, or within those areas over which the State is entitled to exercise jurisdiction as recognised under international law; or
.4 where the consequences of a marine casualty caused, or threatened, serious harm to that State or to artificial islands, installations, or structures over which it is entitled to exercise jurisdiction; or
.5 where, as a result of a casualty, nationals of that State lost their lives or received serious injuries; or
.6 that has at its disposal important information that may be of use to the investigation; or
.7 that for some other reason establishes an interest that is considered significant by the lead investigating State.
5 Conduct of marine casualty investigations
5.1 Where an investigation is to be conducted, the following should be taken into consideration:
.1 Thorough and unbiased marine casualty investigations are the most effective way of establishing the circumstances and causes of a casualty.
