Marine and energy service company Braemar SA has called for more training to be given to minimize the number and severity of vessel casualties as a result of high-risk incidents.
Braemar Far East Regional Director Graeme Temple told the annual International Shipowning and Shipmanagement Summit in Singapore on Monday that training was “essential to managing incidents effectively and looking at how processes can be improved. Often we see casualties needlessly occurring because of human error, this can be managed, if not avoided, by providing the appropriate training before such events occur.”
Temple noted that most large casualties were “a once in a lifetime event”, but that it was vital for Masters to be “prepared for every eventuality”, because often the first decisions made after an incident occurs are the most crucial. Ship managers and owners, as well as incident support teams, needed to ensure that the right infrastructure and support is there when it is needed, Temple said.
He further noted that, although human error was the cause of many casualties,if there was poor motivation, “for whatever reason”, then that would probably play a large part.