Enclosed space deaths remain too high in the shipping industry
Appalled that enclosed space deaths continue to be all too frequent occurrences in the shipping industry, the Maritime Professional Council of the United Kingdom (MPC) has announced its support for fundamental changes to ship operation and design.
MPC member InterManager has been at the forefront of raising this issue where, it says, seemingly innocuous compartments, cargo holds and fuel tanks, vital for storage and operation on board any vessel, have become graveyards for far too many seafarers due to a lack of attention, regulation, and understanding.
Surge in 2023 enclosed space deaths
A surge of enclosed space-related deaths on ships in late 2023 led InterManager to call on the shipping industry to work together to improve safety in these challenging onboard areas. In December last year, the deaths of three seafarers and five shore workers in accidents in enclosed spaces in just seven days brought the total known deaths in these dangerous areas of vessels in 2023 to 31.
InterManager records these incidents on behalf of the wider shipping community. Its statistics show that since 1996, 310 people lost their lives in enclosed spaces on ships – 224 seafarers and 86 shore personnel in 197 accidents.
“It’s a minefield. We’ve created an unsafe environment, and then we blame people for not navigating it properly. It’s absurd,” said InterManager’s secretary general, Captain Kuba Szymanski, highlighting the ineffectiveness of IMO regulations introduced in 2011 that were intended to prevent enclosed space fatalities. He argued that flawed design, especially of cargo hold access, remains a major issue.
Pan-industry collaboration and workshops
The formation this year of a pan-maritime industry group and Enclosed Space Entry – Joint Industry Workshop meetings demonstrates the industry’s commitment to addressing this issue. Two workshops, including one in July, have taken place at the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) office in London.
The MPC believes the creation of the group to provide a single voice on enclosed space deaths is a major step forward. The workshops have led to a roadmap for action to stop enclosed space deaths on ships. The group plans to meet again before year-end to assess progress and develop further actions.
Data collection initiative
Meanwhile the industry group is gathering information on enclosed space accidents, with InterManager collating the responses. The information will be kept strictly confidential and can be sent to enclosedspaceaccidents@intermanager.org along with the approximate date, the ship’s name, and a brief description of the accident.
The MPC stresses that data gathering is essential, and the ship’s name is needed to reduce the possibility of counting an accident several times but it will not be disclosed publicly. The MPC stresses the importance of accurate data gathering, emphasizing that ship names are needed to prevent double-counting, though they will not be disclosed publicly.
