The development and analysis of a navigational incident database for navalvessels

Operating a fleet of ships in all weathers and environments poses certain r isks, and navigational incidents such as collisions, groundings and vessel strikings are bound to occur. The Royal Navy has always conducted extensive inquiries into the serious navigational incidents in order to establish th e cause and so prevent reoccurrence. However, many less serious navigationa l incidents occur which, if collated and analysed an a database, could help better understanding of the nature of such incidents. This paper describes how a database that met these needs was designed and developed. Once compl eted, the database was analysed to compare trends between different vessel types and incident categories.