Conducive to a remarkable economic growth rate as of late, Korea is assuming a new role as a maritime country which is beginning to earnestly participate in oceanic development.
Newadays, casualties at sea are gradually on the increase, due to the gr...
Conducive to a remarkable economic growth rate as of late, Korea is assuming a new role as a maritime country which is beginning to earnestly participate in oceanic development.
Newadays, casualties at sea are gradually on the increase, due to the growing number of various ships, the operation of many fishing ships in the coastal sea, and the traffic congestion caused by ships' frequent passage. Inasmuch as these casualties are being greater and diversified, special measures to cope with such calamities are becoming urgently required.
When the frequency of caualties occurred at sea from 1982 to 1986 was investigated, 50.1% of the total casualties were found to be caused mainly by small-sized fishing ships operating in the coastal sea. In order to further investigate these causes, all the casualties were classified by kinds, locations, times of occurrence, distances between ships, ships' tonnages, weather conditions, and the ships' ages. These factors were then colsely examined. As a result of examination conducted in this way, the main causes of casualties were found to be in order of significance : the negligence of watch, the unobservance of Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, the unskillfulness of operating ships, taking the wrong courses, and the unconfirmation of ships' position, etc.
By analyzing the causes of casualties classified by kinds, the trouble-spots can be summarized as follows :
First, the lack of seamen's quality, second, the poor maintenance and check of ships, third, the lack of seamen's safety consciousness, fourth, the lack of safety equipments, and last, the unobservance of all the requlations concerned.
In order to solve these main problems, the administrative system
is strongly required to be improved as follows :
First, the educational system to train seamen aboard fishing ships should be improved and supplemented, and the present instituions and faci1ities concerned should also be expanded. Through activating the educational system, improving the educational period and curriculum, and then enabling all the seamen to receive equal opportunities for quality education, they can be well trained to prevent unexpected distress at sea. This can be one good way of decreasing calamities at sea.
Second, to displace old ships and modernize all the existing equipments is urgently required. The old ships which are most likely to cause calamities can be gradually eliminated by propelling the long-term and continual ship-building project financially supported by the government. Two models of modernized standard ship, which are very suited to their purpose both in the deep and coastal seas, should be built, and according the existing ships should be gradually displaced.
Third, the sea rescue administration should be systemized into unity. A unified organization called "The Sea Rescue and Prevention Agency" should be newly established very urgently so that it can wholly control all the sea recsue and prention activities, which have been conducted so far incoherently by many different organizations.
Last of all, sea traffic safety laws should be made and enforced so that all the ships which violate these laws can be severely punished and supervised by the administrative organizations concerned. To control annually increasing sea casualties, which cause a great loss of life and property, strong measures need to be taken immediately by the government.