The safety of sea transport: determinants of crew injuries

This study investigates determinants of fatal and nonfatal crew injuries in ship accidents, utilizing detailed data of individual tanker, container an d bulk ship (US and foreign) accidents investigated by the US Coast Guard. Poisson and negative binomial regression estimates suggest that fatal and n onfatal injuries are greater: (1) if the accident cause is human rather tha n environmental or ship related and (2) for fire/explosion and multiple-shi p accidents. The results provide strong evidence of a positive relationship between crew injuries and human causes of ship accidents, thereby providin g support for the current shift in safety focus towards regulating human ac tions aboard ships rather than just the condition of ships.