In November 2017, TAIC hosted the Marine Accident Investigation International Forum annual conference -- all about improving accident investigation to make it safer for everyone at sea.
Things are complex when a ship founders
Let’s imagine: a large merchant ship built in one country, registered in a second, with owners in a third, crew from a forth country, and officers from a fifth. It runs aground in New Zealand and starts leaking diesel. There are multiple injuries, seabirds are getting covered in oil, and how it happened is a mystery.
The investigator's job is complicated too
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission despatches a team of investigators. They will talk with the officers and crew, with suppliers of equipment and services, as well as the shipping company management. This sort of accident is complicated enough, and the last thing investigators need is for the number of countries involved to make it impossibly complex.
TAIC works for maritime safety internationally
This is why New Zealand, through the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, is a member of the Marine Accident Investigation International Forum. MAIIF is an international non-profit dedicated to advancement of maritime safety and prevention of marine pollution as a function of marine accident investigation. It works to improve marine accident investigation and fosters cooperation between marine accident investigators.
International maritime safety conference in NZ
MAIIF’s annual conference in Rotorua, New Zealand from 5 to 10 November 2017, included presentations on:
- Fatigue (that’s grinding tiredness, not just sleepiness)
- Artificial intelligence and autonomous shipping
- Life-saving equipment
- Collaborating across borders
- Deep water investigations
- Engine room fires
- Falls from height
- Wharfside accidents
- Collision at sea
- Human error
- Ethics of reporting
MAIIF chairman Captain Marc-André Poisson talked with Radio New Zealand’s Kathryn Ryan about some of the most pressing issues highlighted by the conference.