Ship Managers Call for Better Reporting as Seafarer Casualty Rate Doubles

The casualty rate for seafarers experiencing enclosed space accidents has almost doubled while the rates for injuries from falls and from rescue and survival craft accidents have remained fairly consistent according to new data analysis from InterManager. The trade association for ship managers highlights the persistent rates while saying that it also finds a significant lag in reporting or underreporting of incidents.

The group analyzed the data publicly available on the IMO’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) as well as elsewhere concluding that accidents onboard ships are not decreasing. They believe there is a lack of transparency and hesitation in sharing accident data which the group says also undermines the statistics. 

Its analysis shows that out of the 538 incidents (including 50 near misses) since 1980, only 19 percent are recorded in GISIS. Improving reporting they believe is the first step toward reducing accident rates.

“Safety is very important to InterManager members and developing an effective safety culture is one of the central pillars of our General Principles of Conduct and Action,” said Captain Kuba Szymanski, InterManager Secretary General. “Collating these statistics on behalf of the industry enables us to proactively assist on a number of core safety issues and we are pleased that the IMO and other industry stakeholders are making use of them to protect the lives of seafarers.”

The most recent analysis supplied to the IMO ahead of the July 22-26 IMO sub-committee meeting on the implementation of initiatives, updated on previous reports while showing the persistent dangers for seafarers. Both the rate of fall accidents and the number of enclosed space accidents have remained stable they report over the past few years. For example, they report there consistently have been between 44 and 52 fall accidents each year. In the first four months of 2024, they reported that there were 18 fall accidents reported in GISIS.

One concern they raise is that the casualty rate for enclosed spaces has almost doubled. While stabilizing over the past few years, they report there was a marked increase in the number of casualties in 2023 compared to 2022 (34 versus 18).

Falls they report are mostly consistent in their location aboard ship. Seafarers involved in working afloat or working over the ship’s side accounted for just over half (55 percent) of the incidents. Those who are not ship’s officers or crew made up nearly a quarter of the reports with the remainder being ship’s officers.

Two-thirds of deaths in enclosed spaces they warn were among the ship's leadership, including the master, chief engineer, chief officer, and second engineer. Further, six percent of the deaths occurred among trainees including cadets.

InterManager commends the IMO for its efforts and adoption of efforts to prevent lifeboat accidents. They, however, caution that there is still a potential for serious accidents in the handling of lifeboats during drills and launching.

The group calls for decreasing or eliminating the lag in reporting incidents to improve the statistical data and improve the analysis. It hopes that by raising awareness it will help to reduce the casualty rate for all seafarers.