Feature Articles

Enclosed space fatalities at sea remain stubbornly high. In this article, Capt. Arora discusses what a truly human-centric approach to safety could change.

Despite decades of awareness campaigns, regulatory updates, and repeated industry commitments, seafarers and shore workers continue to lose their lives in enclosed spaces on board ships, often in circumstances that were entirely preventable. The persistence of these incidents forces us to confront a hard truth: the measures currently implemented are insufficient.

To break the cycle of fatalities, the industry needs a change of mindset, move beyond the checklists and procedures, and embed a genuinely human-centric approach to safety. Continue reading “Beyond the checklist: Preventing enclosed space fatalities at sea”

Results from the 2025 CIC on Ballast Water Management (BWM) show ballast water system itself accounts for 46% of all detainable deficiencies.

Results from last year’s Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on ballast water management revealed a marked change in regulatory compliance failures, which now include the actual performance, operation and maintenance of installed ballast water treatment systems.

Charlène Ceresola, BWT Project Manager and Regulatory expert at BIO-UV Group, Port State Control (PSC), explained that data show that while documentation and record-keeping issues remain widespread, the most serious non-compliances are technical in nature.

“When you look at the total number of compliance failures, documentation still ranks high. But once you focus specifically on deficiencies serious enough to result in a ship being detained, the majority are associated with the ballast water treatment system itself,” said Charlène Ceresola. Continue reading “Technical failures behind most ballast water detentions”