With a spate of incidents and accidents what price human life at sea?
An opinion article by Mike Schwarz
The article you are about to read was written and published on the IIMS web site in September following a clutch of horrific marine incidents and accidents and has not been re- edited. Unbelievably, the shocking events referred to unfolded in the space of just six weeks.
Of course, we have always known that the sea can be and is a treacherous place at times; but the past few weeks have seen a spate of distressing incidents and accidents, seemingly occurring on an almost daily frequency and resulting in the loss of life with substantial damage to vessels and cargoes around the world. Before I became involved in my role as CEO of IIMS, I was blissfully unaware of the sheer number of lives lost at sea, as indeed are most members of the general public. The reason for that is simply that most marine accidents, apart from the really major ones, never make the general news agendas. When I tell my friends and family about the
tragedies that routinely happen at sea, they are disbelieving.
The personal distress I have felt having seen details of one incident after another dropping into my inbox has compelled me to write a blog post if for no other reason than to remind people of what is happening around us. Our thoughts are so rightly wrapped up in the COVID-19 pandemic at the moment that it becomes easy to forget about the tragedies taking place elsewhere.
Sadly I have no solution or instant fix for what is going on and perhaps the current spike of fatalities I have alluded to is statistically nothing out of the ordinary, although for me it feels worse than whatever is deemed to be the ‘acceptable norm’. Let’s review the evidence.
The Wakashio incident off Mauritius has captured the attention of many – and rightly so. Why the vessel deviated from her course will not
28 | The Report • December 2020 • Issue 94
be known for some time, but the capsizing of a tug assisting in the cleanup operation with the loss of three crew was shocking news and sad to hear.
Last week, I learned that a cattle vessel with a cargo of 6,000 cows on board and 43 crew went down off Japan. The final time that the Master of the Gulf Livestock 1 spoke with his partner, Typhoon Maysak was lashing his ship. “He informed her that water had entered the ship. The last thing he said was he will go to the bridge to check the situation,” Maya Addug- Sanchez, the captain’s sister, told the Guardian newspaper. Addug’s family hasn’t heard from him since. To date, only three crew members have been found.
A tragic incident took place near Southampton when a 15 year old girl on a charter vessel ride died of her injuries when the rib she was onboard is reported to have hit a buoy.
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