Course content

The risk concept. Risk picture. What is an accident? Accident statistics. Preventive and ameliorating measures. Risk objectives, data and risk acceptance criteria. Statistical analysis of safety oriented decision alternatives. Maritime traffic models; probability of grounding and collision. Consequence estimation. Risk analysis methods: Hazard analysis, FTA, ETA, FMECA, HazOp. Human reliability; error mechanisms and modelling approaches. Risk control measures and options. Cost-benefit analysis of risk control measures. Formal safety assessment (FSA) and risk based ship design. Accident analysis; analysis and modelling of ship casualties. Analysis and modelling of ship accidents. Catastrophe behaviour, evacuation and rescue. Training, drills and human-machine simulation. Regulation and official control of maritime safety. National and international control authorities. The ISM Code – the International Safety Management Code. Auditing. Marin Insurance; risk analysis and risk management.

Learning outcome

After having fulfilled this course, the student shall have acquired knowledge of the basic issues relating to the improvement of safety at sea, and skills to perform a set of accident and risk analyses relevant for the maritime transport context.
Hence, the course will give the theoretical and practical basis for risk based safety improvement of maritime transport systems, including choice of appropriate methods to perform accident and risk analyses to assess required and/or cost-effective risk control measures.

The specific intended learning outcomes in knowledge and skills are:
- Explain the history of safety development in maritime transport in reactive and proactive safety improvement approaches.
- Organize and apply basic principles, concepts and terms of risk assessment and safety management within the maritime transport context.
- Classify and select theories and methods for accident analysis and risk analysis as approaches to safety improvement in the maritime industry.
- Compose and perform accident analysis from accident documentation to analytical explanation of possible causation processes, and document into an accident report.
- Evaluate given accident reports as basis for risk comprehension.
- Estimation of under-reporting of vessel accident data based upon capture-recapture methods, as a basis for performing proactive risk assessment.
- Perform analyses of operational data based upon statistical methods.
- Classify traffic based risk assessment models, and perform traffic based risk assessment analysis of a set of fairway situations.
- Classify and perform basic estimation of material damage consequences after contact accidents.
- Organize and perform a risk analysis process according to IMO’s Formal Safety Assessment process, including choice and use of appropriate theories and methods for hazard identification, risk assessment, risk control measure, and cost benefit assessment.
- Classify human factors issues as part of risk and safety assessment in maritime transport, and perform quantitative human reliability analyses.
- Explain emergency preparedness and management, and the role of analytical approaches to improve emergency preparedness and management.
- Explain rules, regulations and recommended practices for safety management in maritime transport.

Learning objectives related to development of generic competence:
- A formal analytical approach to a given maritime transportation problem from a safety improvement point of view.
- Design and document an analysis of risk assessment or safety improvement into a readable professional report.
- Contribute to promote analytical approaches for safety improvement to the maritime transport industry, and recognize how this requires contributions from all fields of marine technology.

Learning methods and activities

Lectures, assignments and a group-based project work. Portfolio assessment is the basis for the grade in the course. The portfolio includes a final written exam (70%) and term paper (30%), as well as that a given share of the assignments must be approved before the exam. The results for the parts are given in %-scores, while the entire portfolio is assigned a letter grade. All lectures are given in English. If there is a re-sit examination, the examination form may be changed from written to oral. Examination papers will be given in English only. Students are free to choose Norwegian or English for written assessments.

Compulsory assignments

• Exercises

Recommended previous knowledge

TMR4260 Operation Technology, BC, TPK4120 Safety and Reliability Analysis, or similar.

Course materials

Textbook: Rausand, M.: Risk Assessment - Theory, Methods and Applications. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,Hoboken. ISBN 978-0-470-63764-7. Kristiansen, S.: Maritime Transportation - Safety Management and Risk Analysis. Elsevier - Butterworth Heinemann, Amsterdam. ISBN 07506 59998. Supplementary notes.

Credit reductions