"The sea is always thinking up something new"

Sven Gerhard: Generally, ships are one of the safest means of transportation – after buses, trains and airplanes. A trip on a passenger ship is much safer than in a car or on a bike. Big accidents with cruise ships are very rare. In the period from 2000 to 2010, 17 losses were registered – ten of which happened outside normal cruising when no passengers were on board.

Cruise ships have some of the highest safety standards in the business. After all, more than 20 million people go on cruises every year. Just looking at fire prevention, there are usually five fire-fighting teams on board a typical large cruise ship.

Ships keep getting bigger and bigger. The largest of the new generation of cruise ships can carry over 8000 passengers and crew members. Is this happening to the detriment of safety?

Gerhard: Size alone does not necessarily make a ship more dangerous. In fact, experts believe this makes them more stable. But, of course, the industry has been carefully considering how to evacuate thousands of people on the open water in an emergency and has made changes to accommodate these new challenges.

What rescue systems do I need? How do I prepare my crew and of course the passengers to make sure that in an emergency order is maintained? Ideally, the cruise ship itself is the best lifeboat. It has to be built in such a way that if there is, say, a fire or technical defect, it can stay afloat with everyone on board for as long as possible.

Sven Gerhard of AGCS is responsible for insuring ships worldwide

Click to enlarge: AGCS world shipping loss map
Source: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Dept. of Global Studies & Geography, Hofa University / Source of loss data: Lloyd's List Intelligence World Fleet Update

Gerhard: Every accident causes discussions in the business on safety. That was the case with the Titanic – and the Costa Concordia will be no exception. This then usually leads to new or tighter rules from industry regulators. But the shipping industry is also actively working on risks on its own. For instance, after the Exxon Valdez, shippers developed the double-hull tanker.

Shipping safety has made huge progress since the Titanic sank. But the human element is still the main issue.

Gerhard: Absolutely. In more than 75 percent of accidents, human error played some kind of role. It can manifest itself in a lot of ways: exhaustion, communication problems in multinational crews, poor training or sloppy ship management. Technology has gone through an enormous transformation over the last 100 years. A modern ship's bridge is a high-tech center with satellite communications, GPS location and electronic charting systems. And nowadays there are standards for every critical safety function. So it just makes sense that all the efforts to improve ship safety focus on the human element.

What can owners and operators do?

Gerhard: The main thing is that every ship doesn't just have regulations on file, but rather really lives a safety culture. Training and certification for crews has to be first and foremost about a shared concept of safety from the deckhand to the captain. Some operators and crewing companies have invested in impressive training centers where they simulate critical situations. But nothing can replace years of experience. Because like one of our captains once told me: The sea is always thinking up something new.

As an insurer, how do you assess on-board safety?

Gerhard: We are interested in our clients' safety management and emergency plans and want to find out more about it. An important indicator is also what's called "crew retention". Does the same crew keep hiring on to the same ship? That shows that they like to work there, that the management's good.

Generally we are looking for a close dialogue with our shipping customers. The more information we have, the easier it is to assess their risks. And the better we can also help them actively minimize their exposures and thus further improve safety on board. So transparency really pays for the customer.

 
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