As the fisheries industry is engaged in active fishing activities in the high autumn season, dangers of serious accidents, such as overturning, are on the rise.
Figures, released by Korean Maritime Safety Tribunal, showed that 20 percent of maritime deaths and missing persons that were related to maritime accidents between 2018 and 2022 were caused by capsizing, and more than half those accidents were related to fishing ships. Demand is rising on the need for proving ship stability.
Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority (KOMSA) said on Sept. 15 the authority was stepping up inspection services tailored to meet fishermen’s needs and technology development to strengthen ship stability, essential for preventing ship overturn.
Starting September, KOMSA has produced and distributed fisheries cargo guidelines for ships, requiring them to ensuring ship stability.
The guidelines have been made according to shipping types, such as large stow nets on anchor, and about 60 ships have so far benefited. Such ships are required to undergo inspection every year or in an interval of two and half years.
Shipping vessels were assessed for maximum load levels in accordance with certain certificates using a ship stability calculation report.
Fishermen do not find easy to utilize the ship stability calculation report due to various technology terms related to ship building engineering.
An inspector with the Tongyeong branch of Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority (KOMSA) explains to the skipper of an off-shore fishing ship about guidelines of ship cargo load. (Photos: KOMSA)
KOMSA plans to expand fisheries cargo guidelines to about 1,200 ships by the end of this year and offer provision of such guidelines to all ships required for ensuring ship stability by 2025.
Such guidelines will be given to newly built or renovated ships subject to the ship stability guidelines.
Kim Do-hyung, skipper of the Bosung-ho No. 2010, an off-shore fisheries transportation ship, said, “Even though I graduated from university, I find it hard to comprehend and utilize my ship’s ship stability calculation report, but the fisheries cargo guidelines are helpful to get an understanding of ship stability, and I’m going to use it in place at a captain’s cabin.”
Ships, standing more than 24 meters in length, are required to follow international pacts on ship stability in accordance with the Cape Town Agreement and Indian Standard code.
KOMSA is also hitting the gas to upgrade the quality of a ship stability calculation certificate, the original document of the fisheries cargo guidelines.
KOMSA is accelerating efforts to develop technologies to strengthen small ships’ stability.
The Southwestern Smart Ship Safety Support Center, which was opened in Mokpo, Jeollanam-do, in June, is implementing a project to install ship parallel measuring instruments.
KOMSA President Kim Jun-suk said, “Ship turnover tends to lead to large-sized disasters as ships sink faster than general engine troubles and sinking, and KOMSA is devoting itself to preventing capsizing accidents by expanding projects to ramp up ship stability and developing technologies.”
KOMSA Holds Seminar to Share Design Tech Information
Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority (KOMSA) held a seminar to share design technology information targeting small ship design companies in Gyeonggi-do and Incheon area as well as Busan and Gyeongsangnam-do area at the Incheon Area Smart Ship Safety Support Center on Sept. 19.
The seminar took place with about 60 KOMSA and SME ship design officials in attendance. It was designed to explore ways of upgrading eco-friendly ship design technologies and optimizing design.
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