On 8 September, the 7,700-teu car carrier Golden Ray (built 2017) capsized, trapping four of the ship's 24 crew for 30 hours inside the vessel.

Twenty days later, the 43,478-dwt chemical tanker Stolt Groenland (built 2009) suffered a dramatic and powerful explosion at the South Korean port of Ulsan. The incident was reportedly caused by cargo overheating.

In the wake of these and other serious accidents, one question keeps coming to mind: “We have spent so much time and resources over many decades on loss prevention, yet these accidents keep happening. What is going wrong?”

Fires and explosions caused by misdeclared dangerous containerised cargoes occur monthly, or sometimes even more often. A hot issue for containership operators and their insurers is how to prevent such accidents.

The container trade is becoming ever-more complex, involving numerous joint services and slot-swapping arrangements. Cargoes are often booked through freight forwarders that are not shippers, but intermediaries.

The risk map is complex and accidents cannot be prevented by only one link in the transport chain, however diligent that actor may be. Only all parties working together can hope to make a real difference.

Accident prevention

There are some commendable efforts in this direction. In the protection and indemnity world, Gard has shown us how to promote a broad agenda for marine accident prevention by inviting containership operators, classification societies, flag states, salvors, fire experts and other insurers to share concerns and discuss solutions.

Safety and loss prevention are truly a matter of life and death, as well good business sense

The Cargo Incident Notification System, established by big container shipping companies in 2011, is another good example of collaboration. Through this system, also known as CINS, container lines are exchanging information and their experiences on cargoes, shippers and cargo-related incidents.

It is a matter of regret, even shame, that more than 30% of P&I claims, in terms of number and amount, still arise from crew injury or illness.

Marine accidents continue to harm the health and happiness of crew and their families, which are the very heartbeat of the shipping industry.

Marine pollution has a very direct impact on the environment and exposes shipping companies to serious reputational damage and business interruption.

Insurers take their share through financial loss. Trade and manufacturing are adversely affected and the effects of inadequate loss prevention are felt throughout the industry.

Accordingly, it seems inexplicable that many shipping companies and insurers are reluctant to share data, loss-prevention tools and techniques, as if by doing so they are sharing their competitive advantage.

A US Coast Guard helicopter takes off from the side of the cargoship Golden Ray in September, after the vessel overturned while leaving the Port of Brunswick Photo: Scanpix

A matter of life and death

Safety and loss prevention is truly a matter of life and death, as well as good business sense. Collaboration is possible, all that is required — to borrow a theme from the Global Maritime Forum in Singapore last week — is a “coalition of the willing”.

A first step would be to identify the best solutions using the vast amounts of data available. This means exchanging and sharing data among shipowners and operators, insurers and trade bodies.

Key to this initiative could be the P&I clubs, who are already devoting very significant manpower and resources to the accumulation and interrogation of data to develop loss-prevention solutions of their own. But each is acting in isolation.

How about establishing a P&I loss prevention centre, that brings together all the clubs, and other like-minded insurers, to concentrate resources and manpower towards a common goal?

Safety and loss prevention should not be subsumed to competition. This would require the International Group of P&I Clubs to expand beyond its normal frontiers, to recognise that non-members also can have a role to play.

The opportunity is clear and the prize is significant. Indeed a good start might be to invite non-International Group P&I insurers into their technical subcommittees, to share experiences and information.

Only through collaboration do we increase our chances for better safety at sea.

The 43,478-dwt Stolt Groenland (built 2009) Photo: Sture Thorgaard / MarineTraffic