26 September 2023 – Consistently high numbers of distress calls reflect a need to share and harness data at an industry level to address deficiencies in maritime safety and tackle recurring incidents, according to unique analysis.
The 2023 edition of The Future of Maritime Safety Report from Inmarsat Maritime, a Viasat business, reveals that the number of distress calls from ships at sea remains high, despite a continuing decline in vessel losses. The new report, which analyses Global Maritime Distress and Safety System information captured by Inmarsat, registered 853 distress calls from January to December 2022 â up from 794 in 2021.
With the number of losses of vessels over 100 gross tonnage (GT) falling by 65% in the last decade, the report highlights that figures for marine casualties and incidents reported remain stubbornly high. Over the last four years, distress signals registered over Inmarsat RescueNET averaged 810 per year.
According to Lloydâs List Intelligence data, the most common causes of casualties in 2022 were recurring issues including machinery damage, collision, fire and explosion, and grounding. Based on a new methodology from data analysts at supply chain consultancy SeaFocus, the 2023 edition of The Future of Maritime Safety Report compares datasets across 12 vessel types and multiple years to identify variations, establish trends and assess shippingâs safety issues with precision. Its commentary adds insights from three Inmarsat roundtable meetings, which considered technology, regulation and the human element respectively.
Peter Broadhurst, Senior Vice President, Safety and Regulatory, Inmarsat Maritime, said âAs data in this report shows, we see the same safety incidents repeated time and again, year after year. While the rapid changes ahead pose challenges, they also afford us a great opportunity: to not simply try to maintain levels of safety, but to improve them. Learning from trends revealed in the oceans of data we have access to is essential.â
The Future of Maritime Safety identifies deficiencies in industry attitudes and approaches towards safety, including an âinadequate top-down safety cultureâ, siloed data that is seldom shared, over-emphasis on human error, poor conditions for seafarers, and the perception of safety as a tick-box exercise. To improve standards and reduce the human, environmental and financial impact of marine casualties, the report calls for âcooperation and collaboration built on solid data and the collective desire to manage risk to the lowest practicable levelâ.
Specific measures proposed include the proactive use of safety data and reports to tackle the root causes of repeated and well-known issues and the creation of a standard international marine casualty and incident dataset. The report recommends anonymising incident and casualty data to âovercome prevailing unwillingness to share data due to commercial sensitivitiesâ and reaching a consensus on standard data points to monitor.
âWe have the data but need to find ways to harmonise its collation and employment to tackle safety deficiencies head-on,â commented Broadhurst. âLetâs change the narrative from a culture of commercial and personal secrecy out of fear of competition and punitive measures to one of transparency and acceptance of safety-related change. In this way, we can better protect seafarers, vessels and the environment and ensure that safety keeps pace with other aspects of a sustainable transition that is steering shipping towards a new dawn.â
About Viasat
Inmarsat Maritime is now a Viasat business and continues to power the digitalisation of the maritime industry, making operations more efficient and safer than ever before. Viasat is a global communications company that believes everyone and everything in the world can be connected. With offices in 24 countries around the world, our mission shapes how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the world communicate and connect. Viasat is developing the ultimate global communications network to power high-quality, reliable, secure, affordable, fast connections to positively impact people’s lives anywhere they areâon the ground, in the air or at sea, while building a sustainable future in space. On May 30, 2023, Viasat completed its acquisition of Inmarsat, combining the teams, technologies and resources of the two companies to create a new global communications partner. Learn more at www.viasat.com, the Viasat News Room or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube.
Inmarsat Maritime is based in Viasatâs global international business headquarters in London, United Kingdom. For further information about Inmarsat Maritime, follow us on LinkedIn.
