The UK Maritime Safety Week 2026 took place from 6-10 July. To mark this occasion, Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents at the UK MAIB, Rob Loder, writes Beyond the binder: making safety management systems work at sea.
Every year, Maritime Safety Week gives the industry a chance to pause and ask a difficult question: are we really doing enough to keep seafarers safe? This year, I want to focus on safety management systems (SMS) and the importance of closing the gap between safety in theory and safety in practice.
A thorough and comprehensive SMS is one of the most powerful tools available to mariners. Required under international law by the IMO, an SMS sets out procedures, processes and policies, guiding crews through routine operations and, critically, identifying risks and setting out how to manage them. Done properly, emergency response procedures are planned in advance, so that when a crisis strikes, nothing is left to chance.
But an SMS is only as good as its implementation. Too often, our investigations reveal a troubling pattern. Often SMS have failed to prevent an accident because they had not fully identified all the operational hazards. We have also seen examples where SMS were seen as a compliance exercise and were filed away rather than used as a way to engage staff in working safely. An SMS should be a living document that is regularly reviewed and updated. Senior leadership engagement with the SMS is essential because crews take their cue from management.
In particular, the safety learning uncovered during our investigation into a fatal accident on board Laureline bears repeating.
An able seaman was fatally injured on board the roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel Laureline when he was crushed between the rear of a moving trailer and the vessels structure. Laureline was alongside at Purfleet, England, loading and discharging trailers using the terminals tugs under the direction of the ships crew. One of the two able seamen who were working on the vehicle deck passed behind a trailer while it was being loaded, likely assuming that the tug driver had completed manoeuvring the trailer. Unaware of the able seamens position, the tug driver reversed the trailer again to realign it. The able seaman was crushed between the trailer and the vessels structure, causing fatal injuries.
Our investigation found that the vessel management companys new vehicle deck cargo operations safety procedure was not well understood by the vehicle deck crew and that they routinely entered the defined danger zone around manoeuvring vehicles and trailers. The lack of understanding highlighted weaknesses in the training and implementation of the new procedure, and that the tug drivers knowledge of danger zones and the requirement to stop when a crew member was out of sight did not align with their actual working practices.
These procedural lapses led to tragedy: a seafarer lost his life carrying out a routine task. The MAIB report commented that this accident was a stark reminder that procedural controls alone are not sufficient to protect workers.
This Maritime Safety Week we are urging all vessel operators, regardless of your sector, size, or vessel type, to think carefully about your SMS and answer these questions honestly:
Is it comprehensive? Have you identified and fully mitigated all potential risks?
Does your SMS reflect your operations? Is it specific to your vessel?
Has it been briefed? Do your crew have a detailed understanding of safe working methods? Do they know what they should do in an emergency and have you done regular drills?
Does it reflect real-life working? Have you conducted management assurance to ensure that the working practices detailed in the SMS are what crew are actually doing on board?
Is it regularly reviewed? Does your SMS reflect lessons learned from near misses and incidents, both on your vessel and across the industry?