Report Says Maritime Accidents Up Due to Higher Traffic and Bad Weather

Posted in Maritime Accidents on August 30, 2013

In a press conference held by the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration on Wednesday, August 28, officials reported that shipping accidents have increased 36.4 percent year-on-year in waters overseen by the city’s maritime authority in the first half of 2013. The officials said that 15 maritime accidents occurred in the first half of the year. Maritime accidents include ship collisions, vessels running aground and weather-related incidents.

Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration report says increase in maritime accidents is primarily due to the growing shipping traffic around the mouth of the Yangtze River, shipping company negligence and more frequent cases of extreme weather.

According to Chen Xiaoguang, the spokesperson for the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration, the increase in accidents is primarily due to the growing shipping traffic around the mouth of the Yangtze River, shipping company negligence and more frequent cases of extreme weather.

The Global Times reported:

An inspection of 20,597 cargo ships found that some shipping companies employed unqualified sailors and skimped on equipment upgrades to hold down costs, Chen said.

The maritime authority plans to create a shipping company credibility system that will rate the companies on a three-tiered scale based on their accident and compliance records.

The authority will give companies with an A rating preferential treatment. It will strengthen supervision and may even impose penalties on companies with a C rating.

The Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration, which oversees shipping traffic along the coast from Dongshan, Fujian Province to Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, says in order to help keep ships safe in extreme weather, they plan to upgrade its technology, starting with  improved technology to guide ships in heavy fog.

Blog post by Houston maritime lawyer, Gordon, Elias & Seely.