Ship inspection strategies: effects on maritime safety and environmental protection

Global trade depends for a large part on maritime transport, and safe ships are needed not only to protect precious cargo but also to prevent environmental damage. Flag state and port state authorities spend much effort in ship safety inspections to ensure a minimum safety level and to prevent casualties. This paper investigates the safety gains of current inspection rules as well as options for further improvement. The analysis is based on a dataset of over four hundred thousand ship arrivals originating from some important trading nations between 2002 and 2007, complemented with data on port state control and industry inspections and casualties. The results indicate considerable potential safety gains of incorporating estimated future casualty risks more explicitly in port state control strategies to select ships for safety inspection