Maritime safety as part of and overlapping with

water safety Water safety refers to the procedures, precautions and policies associated with safety in, on, and around bodies of water, where there is a risk of injury or drowning. It has applications in several occupations, sports and recreational activities ...

is concerned with the protection of life (

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

) and

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

through regulation, management and technology development of all forms of waterborne transportation. The executive institutions are the national and transnational maritime administrations. Maritime accidents, while characterized by a level of

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

of the order of 10⁻⁵ (1 serious accident per 100,000 movements), which is only slightly inferior to that of the field of

air transportation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot ai ...

(10⁻⁶) are a significant source of

risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environm ...

for insurance companies,

transport companies Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, a ...

and property owners. Beyond that, of course, ship owners and maritime institutions have to ensure that casualties at sea (mostly by

drowning Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer as ...

) are kept to the possible minimum. Organizational and human factors are critical antecedents to accidents such as

MV Prestige MV ''Prestige'' was an oil tanker owned by a Greek company based in Athens and operating under a Bahamian flag, that on 19 November 2002 sank off the coast of Galicia, Spain. The sinking caused a major environmental disaster, polluting tho ...

Herald of Free Enterprise MS ''Herald of Free Enterprise'' was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry which capsized moments after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on the night of 6 March 1987, killing 193 passengers and crew. The eight-deck car and passenger ferry was o ...

, MS Sleipner,

MS Estonia MS ''Estonia'' was a cruiseferry built in 1980 at the West German shipyard Meyer Werft in Papenburg. In 1993, she was sold to Nordström & Thulin for use on Estline's Tallinn–Stockholm route. The ship's sinking on 28 September 1994, in the Ba ...

, Bow Mariner and Hoegh Osaka as well as the infamous

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unite ...

Institutions

For a complete list, see :Maritime safety organizations

Europe

* European Maritime Safety Agency *

Maritime Gendarmerie The Maritime Gendarmerie (french: Gendarmerie maritime) is a component of the French National Gendarmerie under operational control of the chief of staff of the French Navy. It employs 1,157 personnel and operates around thirty patrol boats and ...

Danish Maritime Safety Administration The Danish Maritime Safety Administration (DaMSA) ( da, Farvandsvæsenet) was a department of the Danish Ministry of Defence with administration located in Christianshavn, Copenhagen. DaMSA operated throughout Denmark as part of the Danish Search ...

* Norwegian Maritime Authority *

Maritime Safety and Rescue Society The Sociedad de Salvamento y Seguridad Marítima (literally: ''Maritime Safety and Rescue Society''), also known as SASEMAR or Salvamento Marítimo, is a sea search and rescue agency that operates in Spain. It is the body in charge of maritim ...

Asia

* China Maritime Safety Administration

Africa

South African Maritime Safety Authority The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) is a South African government agency established on 1 April 1998 as a result of the 1998 South African Maritime Safety Authority Act 5. as such it is responsible for the implementation of current ...

Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), formerly the National Maritime Authority (NMA) is responsible for regulations related to Nigerian shipping, maritime labor and coastal waters. The agency also undertakes inspections ...

Americas

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...

Systems

Global Maritime Distress and Safety System The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) is a worldwide system for automated emergency signal communication for ships at sea developed by the United Nations' International Maritime Organization (IMO) as part of the SOLAS Conventi ...

* Maritime Safety and Security Information System

References

Literature

* * {{cite book , last=Oltedal , first=Helle , title=Managing maritime safety , publisher=Routledge , publication-place=London , year=2018 , isbn=978-0-203-71297-9 , oclc=1021303983