By Captain Kuba Szymanski, FNI

When accidents happen onboard ships it is almost always the seafarer who pays the price – firstly by suffering injury or death in the accident, and secondly by being blamed for the incident.

I believe our great industry does itself, and those who work in it, a great disservice by pointing fingers in this simplistic way. I, and many others in the shipping industry, refer to this as a blame culture – and it has to stop!

It is no surprise that this blame culture has developed. Today’s shipping industry is reliant on insurance provided by P&I Clubs. These not-for-profit mutual insurance associations provide cover for their shipowner and charterer members against third party liabilities arising out of the use and operation of ships. The system is geared towards attributing blame in that cover is only applicable if someone is found to be the ‘guilty party’ in explanation for the cause of the accident. Effectively they insure owners and charterers against crew negligence.

So, accidents happen because crew are negligent, ignorant, or lacking necessary skills? I argue this is not the case.

I believe the more pertinent questions to ask are:
• Who is responsible for the employment of these crew members?
• Who is responsible for the promotion of these crew?
• Who decides on the ship’s crew component, quality and number?
• Who is responsible for the onboard rules and regulations, and for the ship’s procedures?
• Who checks whether ships and their managers/owners/operators comply with industry regulations?
• Who is finally responsible for ensuring that those regulations are actually fit for purpose?

We know the answers to those questions. In the frame are the ship owners, the managers, the charterers, and shipping’s international regulator, the International Maritime Organization. Yet the shipping industry does not routinely extend its accident investigation systems beyond the seafarer making a mistake. Crew pay the price and our great industry suffers reputational damage too.

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