Ship inspection strategies: Effects on maritime safety and environmental protection

Global trade largely depends on maritime transport, and appropriate ships are needed to protect cargo but to minimize environmental damage and to this end, flag and port state authorities expend considerable effort in ship safety inspections. This paper investigates the safety gains of current inspection rules as well as options for further developments. The analysis is based on a dataset of over 400,000 ship arrivals covering 2002–2007, and is complemented with data on port state control and industry inspections and casualties. The results indicate considerable potential for safety gains from incorporating casualty risks more explicitly in port state control strategies to select ships for safety inspections.

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