HELCOM report shows sharp decrease in ship collisions in the Baltic
While every year there are more and more ships plying the waters of the Baltic Sea, the occurrence of ship-to-ship collisions, one of the most serious types of accidents at sea, has decreased sharply since 2005, especially in such a busy traffic area like the Gulf of Finland, according to the latest HELCOM study.
Analysis of the data contained in the latest annual reports provided by the Member States to HELCOM reveals that overall there was a total of 120 accidents in 2007, compared to 117 in 2006, 146 in 2005 and 142 in 2004. In 2007, only 4 accidents resulted in small-scale pollution, compared to 5 similar cases in 2006, and 13 in 2005.
The most common type of accidents were groundings accounting for almost a half of all reported cases (55 accidents or 45%). Collisions became the second most frequent type of shipping accidents in the Baltic amounting to 40 cases (33%). This includes collisions with vessels, fixed or floating structures, e.g. peers, navigation signs etc. There were only 15 ship-to-ship collisions. That is 50% less than in 2006 and 2005. Other major types of accidents included fires (8%) and machinery damage (6%).
“The ship-to-ship collisions have decreased despite a 10% increase in ship traffic in the Baltic,” says Monika Stankiewicz, Professional Secretary on maritime and response issues at HELCOM. “It is a very good development, although the number of accidents is still unacceptable. The launch of the HELCOM Automatic Identification System (AIS) in 2005, traffic separation schemes and ship reporting systems introduced in the Baltic, e.g. Gulf of Finland Reporting System (GOFREP), have had a positive effect on the safety of navigation and might have contributed to the reduced number of collisions over the recent years, especially in the Gulf of Finland.”
The latest report shows that most of the accidents occurred in the south-western Baltic Sea. Cargo vessels (55%), tankers (13%) and passenger ferries (20%) were the main types of vessels involved in the accidents. This proportion more or less reflects the amount of different vessel types making up the Baltic Sea traffic in 2007. However, the higher risk can be observed for passenger ships which made up 10% of the overall traffic while their share in accidents was as much as 20%. The main cause of accidents in 2007 is not clear, due to the lack of information in 32% of all cases. However, human error (32%) still seems to continue to be the main factor, followed by technical factors (20%).
Of the 4 oil spills which occurred as a result of accidents in 2006, the largest contained 12 tonnes of oil (following a grounding in heavy weather conditions in Latvia), the second largest was no more than 0.2 tonnes of oil (following a collision off Kaliningrad).
Fortunately, most of the accidents in the Baltic do not cause notable pollution, but even one large-scale accident would seriously threaten the marine environment. Over the period 2000-2006, an average of 7% of all reported accidents resulted in some kind of pollution. In 2007, this percentage was lower (3%). Two of the five most serious accidents in the Baltic marine area have occurred since 2001 – involving “Baltic Carrier” in 2001 (2,700 tonnes of oil spilt), and “Fu Shan Hai” in 2003 (1,200 tonnes of oil spilt).