The Coast Guard statistics on uninspected towing vessel safety are the only available source for an appraisal of safety in this field, but there are serious statistical voids due to incomplete reporting of numbers of casualties, injuries, and property damage. More vigorous Coast Guard enforcement of the casualty reporting requirements is needed to give a complete safety picture. Reports of fatalities involving uninspected towing vessels are more reliable and considered the best available index for comparing uninspected towing vessel safety with inspected vessel safety. The Coast Guard casualty statistics for uninspected towing vessels for the period 1965 through 1968 show an increase in number of accidents at a rate twice the rate of increase in the number of towing vessels. Fatalities have increased 50 percent during the last 2 years, with falls overboard the greatest single cause. These statistics show that personnel errors are the primary cause of accidents in about a third of all reported casualties, and material failure in 19 percent of them. Unlicensed towing vessel operators were involved in twice as many collisions as were licensed operators, but the relative numbers of personnel in these two categories are not known.
Study of Towing Vessel Safety and Accident Preventive Recommendations
1969
40 pages
Report
No indication
English
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2004
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