NTSB publishes Safer Seas Digest 2016

The NTSB has published its Safer Seas Digest 2016, including lessons learned from major marine casualties investigated by the agency during the year. NTSB has determined the probable cause of the accidents and issued respective safety recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents. 

The accidents described are resulted from several causes, relevant to fatigue, standard maintenance and repair procedures, operational testing procedures, operating in inclement weather conditions, distraction, access to high-risk spaces, etc.

“Not only mariners, but management and executives as well, should take these lessons to heart. Safety culture begins at the top; the lessons in Safer Seas Digest should be as important to those in C-suites as they are to those at sea”, said Robert L. Sumwalt, NTSB Acting Chairman.

In 2016, the NTSB also continued investigation into the October 2015 sinking of the cargo vessel El Faro, but it will not release the report until it is fully understood what happened. After three separate search and recovery voyages, and with the help of many federal and private institutions, the El Faro’s voyage data recorder (VDR) was recovered in August 2016. Specialists in the NTSB recorders laboratory have been working to faithfully document the words of the crew, barely audible among the sounds of hurricane winds and relentless seas. 

Please click herebelow to read NTSB Safer Seas Digest 2016: