This month, I want to address the matter of recurring safety issues in our industry, and I pose the simple question, to which there is no easy answer: “What are the barriers to progress?” Of course, I don’t have the answers, but as a joined up, interconnected industry, perhaps we could do as we seek to make incisive inroads into ship, crew and vessel safety. Over the years, the realisation for enhanced safety training and mechanisms has grown and is now accepted as the norm, as has their implementation, but still, we see the same old type of incidents and accidents recurring. So, do we have an issue with the safety culture, and why are we not learning from history and the past?
Let me set out the topics I would like to briefly talk about in this month’s column to stimulate thought and debate. In no order of importance, they are continuous, repeating accidents at sea in general (many of which are fatal), enclosed space deaths and pilot ladder fatalities.
In early January, I joked with my colleague, Frances Birkett, who maintains our annual accident calendar, about how quiet things had been in the first week of the new year. But not really a joking matter, and I had spoken too soon, because the following weeks of January brought sad news of a plethora of worldwide accidents involving ship fires, numerous groundings, ferry capsizes, fishing vessel sinkings, multiple fatalities, and more. I know, as you know, that the sea is such a dangerous environment in which to operate, but I question how many of these incidents were due to the human element. Time will tell.
When I joined IIMS 12 years ago, I was horrified to learn about the number of deaths in enclosed spaces. Last year saw a spike in enclosed space deaths. They were a regular occurrence, and fatalities were high. Roll on a decade or more and the situation seems no better – well, that is what last year’s statistics would seem to suggest. Again, my question is simply why? Training is in place, of course, but is it to do with a lack of personal risk assessment, poor judgment, or just becoming complacent?
And finally, pilot deaths, another vexing subject, which is not as much debated as it perhaps could be. I suspect this is because maritime pilot deaths are fortunately quite rare, but I am aware of two fatal accidents already in 2026. In the recent MAIB investigation report into the pilot fatality on board Finnhawk, Chief Inspector of Accidents, Capt Andrew Moll OBE, said, “While superficially this was a simple accident, our investigation identified safety concerns across the training, equipment, medical standards and emergency response, and this report addresses all of these.”
Nobody should go to work and not return at the end of the day. One of the primary roles of the marine surveyor is to do all they can to preserve the safety of life at sea, as well as keeping cargo and valuable assets safe and secure. Please, as an industry, can we come together to redouble our efforts to improve safety standards and decrease the number of fatal accidents at sea?
It is some while since we added to our collection of handy guides, but I am delighted to say that with the publication ‘What a marine surveyor needs to know about Marine Classification Society and Statutory Surveys – an introduction’, we have now reached 30 in total. Immediate Past President, Peter Broad, has authored this one, which will be of use to anyone thinking of undertaking this type of work. The same author is also working on another handy guide covering the subject of giving expert witness.
Survey well.
Mike Schwarz