The Dutch Safety Board’s latest Shipping Occurrences Report lists serious accidents on board ships sailing under the Dutch flag or ships sailing within Dutch territorial waters. Up to July 2023, there were eight collisions, 39 occupational accidents, one fire/explosion, five groundings, one incident involving serious damage and eight technical failure incidents in sea shipping.
In inland shipping, there were seven collisions, one man overboard, and one accident in the category sinking/capsizing/taking in water.
The Shipping Occurrences Report (SOR) lists occurrences from the categories very serious, serious and serious injury. These entail:
- Very serious: accident with total loss of a vessel or where there have been fatalities or serious environmental damage.
- Serious: accident involving a vessel which cannot be classified as “very serious” and where for example a fire, collision, grounding, etc. has occurred preventing the vessel from continuing to sail or causing environmental damage.
- Serious injury: injury suffered by a person, which incapacitates the person for more than 72 hours, within seven days after the date on which the accident took place.
As inland shipping categorises accidents differently according to European regulations, “serious” and “very serious” accidents are taken to mean: accidents whereby a vessel is no longer able or permitted to sail as a consequence of the shipping accident or if there is serious damage to the cargo, infrastructure or the environment, resulting in disruption of the navigation channel, or if there are fatalities or serious injuries.
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The figure above shows serious and very serious accidents in sea shipping from January to July 2023. The figure below does the same for inland shipping.
Occupational accidents
The figures for sea shipping show that occupational accidents occupy a key position. The prevention of occupational accidents has also been awarded a prominent position in international (and other) legislation and regulations. Greater insight into the nature of these accidents can contribute to increased safety awareness among employers, employees and other parties in the maritime sector, states the Dutch Safety Board.
For that reason, in the report, occupational accidents are presented on the basis of causes of injury. It is noticeable that entrapment, being hit by liquids/objects, falling/slipping/tripping and falling from height are the most common types of occupational accident.
Working together safely on board
Safety is not a given. It is critical that this is discussed time and again with all parties involved before all operations, and that clear agreements are made regarding safety. The Dutch Safety Board’s latest Shipping Occurrences Report focuses attention on working together safely on board.
A captain is always responsible for the safety on board the vessel. If third parties come to work on board, their actions can affect the safety of the ship’s crew. This could result in a situation in which the captain, although responsible, cannot influence the course of action.
To ensure safe cooperation, it is good to make some basic agreements between the various parties before work begins. These can be made during toolbox meetings in which all crew members and shore-based staff are present and safety risks and responsibilities for safety measures are identified and assigned.
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Dutch Safety Board
Within the shipping industry, the Dutch Safety Board has the legal obligation to investigate serious
and very serious occurrences involving Dutch seagoing vessels. This obligation also extends to the investigation of serious and very serious occurrences involving or on board seagoing vessels in Dutch territorial waters. The main goal of the Dutch Safety Board is to prevent accidents or their consequences by determining lessons learned and formulating recommendations.
In the period covered by this ROS, the Dutch Safety Board launched three new maritime investigations, including an investigation into an occurrence on board a Dutch sailing vessel in the Pacific Ocean.
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