Overview
Ships are subject to inspections from different stakeholders, such as port states, classification societies, ship owners, managers and operators, among others. Each one has its own inspection method depending upon its role in the vessel operation. Consequently, all inspections monitor the ship condition and report respective data. However no means exist today to inter-relate the data which are systematically collected by the stakeholders. In fact, few studies have investigated the effectiveness of the different inspections methods; therefore, it is uncertain to what extent the current inspection regimes are contributing to reduce accidents.
On the other hand, risk-based methods are gaining more importance in different industries. Initially, catastrophic accidents in the shipping industry demonstrated the need for proactive safety. Furthermore risk-based methods allow consideration of safety in processes. Risk assessment methodologies are based in the systematic or quantitative collection of potential hazards and end up with qualitative measures to eliminate or reduce these hazards.
The SAFEPEC project aims to promote proactive safety and develop a ‘unified risk-based framework’ built upon the analysis of historical data of casualties, near miss cases, deficiencies and non-conformities that are detected by various types of inspections. Another outcome of the project is a software prototype that enables the interoperability and coherent interpretation of those data sources; and can contribute to the early detection of failure, either in the ship structure or its equipment. Workshops and other engagement activities will be organised to collect the stakeholder views about the products developed during the project. Based on the feedback obtained along these events, a set of recommendations for proactive ship inspection policy will be elaborated.