Analysis of Fishing Vessel Accidents and Suggestions for Safety Policy in South Korea from 2018 to 2022

Abstract

Commercial fishing, one of the most dangerous sectors globally and, particularly, in South Korea, faces fatal accident rates significantly exceeding other industries, and an urgent improvement in safety measures is necessary to reduce these numbers effectively. The main objective of this study is to analyse fishing vessel accidents in South Korea and present the direction of safety policy for fishing vessels based on the lessons learnt from previous accidents, and, ultimately, to contribute to reduce fishing vessel accidents. For this purpose, we have analysed the marine accident data from the last five years provided by the Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal (KMST), the statistical yearbook of oceans and fisheries provided by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), and the statistical survey of marine fisheries provided by the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS), using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. After thorough review and analysis of the accident data, we have proposed seven suggestions for the direction of future safety policy for fishing vessels in South Korea: adopt international safety benchmarks, focus on occupational and collision accidents, tailor safety measures to vessel size and age, enhance lookout practices to prevent collisions, implement comprehensive strategies to mitigate human errors, and address communication issues among Korean and international crews.