Inattentiveness, imprudence, procedural errors and dangerous navigational behavior caused almost forty per cent of all accidents on Dutch inland water in 2007. According to the Dutch Inspection for Transport and Public Works this makes human error the main cause for inland shipping accidents.
In 2007 the inspection registered 816 incidents. This is a 41 per cent increase since 1998, but the number of human casualties dropped from 27 to sixteen per cent (the lowest in four years). Four people died and thirty got injured. According to the inspection, there is no significant trend here. The increase in incidents seems largely due to the fact that more accidents are registered instead of inland shipping becoming less safe.
The cause of one third of all accidents is unknown. Better registration and analysis have to change this in the coming years. In third place are accidents caused by the surroundings, such as currents, waves or storms, with eigteen per cent. Nine per cent of all accidents were caused by equipment errors, three per cent by communication errors.
Collisions
Most common incidents are collisions between vessels or between vessel and shore of works of art. In 2007 there were 311 vessel collisions. This is an eight per cent increase compared to 1997. The number of registered collisions between vessel and shor of works of art doubled to 287. Collisions with objects and unilateral collisions respectively increased by 133 and 88 per cent.
Source: https://www.schuttevaer.nl/nieuws/actueel/nid10045-menselijke-fout-voornaamste-oorzaak-scheepsongevallen.html[Schuttevaer] (translated by SWZ Maritime)
