Shipping has made massive strides over the decades to clean up its act, to get safer, smarter and better. However, it seems that whatever progress is made there are still many problems which blight the industry, and the end of last year and start of this are painting a grim picture for shipping.
Sadly in the final weeks of 2014 a number of accidents left a dark stain on shipping. Perhaps the most high profile was the fire onboard the ferry “Norman Atlantic” in the Adriatic. The death toll has been on the rise since news of the fire broke, and confusion has reigned over just how many people had been on board and how many were still missing.
Many passengers recounted how the fire triggered chaotic scenes as the crew struggled to cope with the disaster. Questions are now being asked about how the fire started and why it was not contained. Italian prosecutors have announced a criminal investigation that will seek to establish whether negligence contributed to the disaster. Italian reports said the ship owner and captain could face manslaughter charges.
If the end of the year was bad, the start of the new has been even worse. With the grounding of the “Hoegh Osaka”, on Bramble Bank in the Solent near to the Isle of Wight, there were raised eyebrows. But with the losses of the vessels “Bulk Jupiter” and “Cemfjord”, off Vietnam and Scotland respectively – the full horror of what can happen at sea has hit home once more. These are not isolated incidents, as collisions off Singapore, and a grounding and sinking off the Philippines recently have shown.
It is increasingly unlikely that more survivors will be found, and so the 2015 seafarer death toll is already intolerably high just days into the new year.
Add to that the fact that large merchant ships are being packed with desperate African and Middle Eastern migrants and set on a course for Europe, then shipping is very much in the spotlight at the moment.
Things can only get better they say, but at this rate they are going to have to!
