Sewol ferry sank on 16 April 2014, in South Korean waters taking the lives of over 300 people, most of whom where kids on a school excursion. Four years later, in August 2018, the official panel investigation on the accident said it could not find exact causes for South Korea’s deadliest maritime casualty since 1970.

The capsizing of Herald of Free Enterprise, only a few minutes after leaving Zeebrugge port on 6 March 1987, killed 193 people. The incident is considered, not only as the deadliest casualty involving a UK-registered ship since 1919, but also as a wake-up call for safety improvements.

The London P&I Club has launched new LP Focus issue to address all issues related to permits to work as frequently, fatalities or serious injury to seafarers – or environmental, ship or cargo incidents – are caused by failing to use the Permit to Work system, or the requirements have been ignored. ignored or misunderstood when the permit has been issued.

In June 2017, A.P. Moller - Maersk fell victim to a major cyber-attack caused by the NotPetya malware, which also affected many organisations globally. As a result, Maersk’s operations in transport and logistics businesses were disrupted, leading to unwarranted impact.

The Republic of Marshall Islands issued a marine notice, setting out the revised requirements for hot work, including all ships, not just tank ships and combination carriers. Hot Work involves sources of ignition or temperature sufficiently high enough to cause the ignition of a flammable gas mixture.

More than 50 years after the supertanker ‘Torrey Canyon’ ran aground off England, spurring every drop of its crude oil cargo into the Atlantic, SAFETY4SEA attempts to analyze the world’s first major oil tanker disaster that put the meaning of environmental conservation in a new context.

A containership lost a great number of containers overboard in the Pacific Ocean approximately 1,600 nautical miles northwest of Hawaii, as reported by the ship’s manager.

The STCW Convention provides details on the certificates required according to function performed on board and type of vessel. The following tables outline all requirements for personnel on any type of ship designated with safety or pollution duties; in charge of survival craft or rescue boats; designated to control fire fighting; to provide medical care; securities duties and for personnel working on tankers or passenger ships.

Simultaneous Operations occur when two or more potentially conflicting activities are being executed in the same location at the same time. SQE Marine Consulting advised on a proper SIMOPS risk assessment, which is to be conducted through several dedicated meetings, requiring participation of multidisciplinary attendees by all involved parties. 

Ship to ship transfer operations are seen more and more as vessels’ size grows in comparison with ports’ and terminals’ size. STS constitutes one of the most common but also high-risk operations in shipping. These operations should be carefully planned and executed by familiar and trained crews.