HELCOM report shows a 22% drop in ship accidents in the Baltic

Helsinki, 26 August (HELCOM Information Service) – While the Baltic continues to be one of the most heavily trafficked seas in the world, the number of ship accidents has dropped drastically, especially in such busy traffic area like the Gulf of Finland, according to the latest HELCOM study. And the occurrence of ship-to-ship collisions, one of the most serious types of accidents at sea, has dipped to a record low level since 2003.

Analysis of the data contained in the latest annual reports provided by the Member States to HELCOM reveals that overall there was a total of 105 ship accidents in the Baltic marine area in 2009, which is 30 less than the year before (22% decrease) and 15 less than in 2007 (12,5% decrease).

“The significant decrease in shipping accidents could be partially linked to the 13% reduction in shipping traffic from 2008 to 2009 due to the economic recession,” says Monika Stankiewicz, Professional Secretary for maritime and response to oil accidents issues at HELCOM. “At the same time the launch of the HELCOM Automatic Identification System (AIS) in 2005, traffic separation schemes and ship reporting systems introduced in the Baltic, e.g. the Gulf of Finland Reporting System (GOFREP), have had a positive effect on the safety of navigation and might have contributed to the reduced number of accidents over the recent years,” explains Stankiewicz.

Almost all accidents occurred very close to shore or in harbours. The most common type was grounding accounting for more than a third of all reported cases (38 accidents or 36%). “This was actually the lowest number since 2004, when 56 similar cases were recorded. On the other hand, 68% of these groundings occurred with small vessels having a draught of less than 7 m,” says Stankiewicz.  Collisions became the second most frequent type of shipping accidents in the Baltic - 34 cases (32%), compared to 41 cases in 2008 and 54 cases in 2006. This includes collisions with vessels, fixed or floating structures, e.g. peers, navigation signs etc. There were only 6 ship-to-ship collisions, and the number has decreased by 80% since 2005, whereas the number of collisions with objects has remained largely unchanged.

Spatially collisions are accumulated in approaches to ports and the Danish Straits. An increasing number of collisions have been reported in the southwestern Baltic Sea, including the Danish straits since 2007. The area is one of the hot spots for collisions in the Baltic, with 53% of 2009 collisions and 31% of all reported collisions during 2000-2009 taking place in the southwestern Baltic. Out of a total of 34 collisions in 2009, only one was reported to have occurred in the Gulf of Finland. There has been a drastic reduction in the number of collisions occurring in the Gulf of Finland. For the 10-year period 2000-2009, collisions in the Gulf of Finland made up 22% of the total number of reported collisions.

In 2000-2009 on an average 7% of the reported accidents ended up with some kind of pollution. In 2009, this percentage was slightly higher at 10%, with 11 out of the total 105 reported accidents resulting in pollution. One of these incidents was a collision and one caused by machinery damage, whereas the rest were pollution incidents occurring e.g. during fuel transfer. Vessels involved in pollution accidents in 2009 were two cargo ships, two tankers, and nine other vessels.

Cargo vessels are the main group of ships involved in the total number of accidents (28%), followed by passenger vessels (26%) and tankers (19%). Tankers were involved in approximately a fifth of all accidents. Human factor was the main cause of accidents in over a half (52%) of the incidents reported in 2009. External and technical factors were the reason for 15% and 20% of accidents, respectively.

The Baltic Sea today is one of the busiest seas in the world, accounting for around 9% of total cargo and 11% of oil transportation in world traffic. According to the AIS data, vessels entered or left the Baltic Sea via Skaw 62,700 times last year. This number has increased by more than 20% since 2006. Approximately 46% of these ships were cargo vessels, 21% were tankers and 4.5% were passenger ships. There are about 2,000 ships in the Baltic marine area at any given moment, and each month around 3,500-5,000 ships ply the waters of the Baltic.

Forecasts indicate that due to economic growth, especially in the eastern part of the region, the maritime transport in the Baltic is expected to grow by 64% between 2003 and 2020. The amount of cargo shipped on the Baltic in 2008 was 822 million tonnes, with the fastest annual growth taking place in Russia. The transportation of oil and other potentially hazardous cargoes is growing steeply and steadily. In 2009, more than 251 million tonnes of oil were shipped on the Baltic. The use of much bigger tankers is also expected to rise – there will be more tankers in the Baltic carrying 100,000-150,000 tonnes of oil.

Follow-up:

HELCOM report on shipping accidents in 2009: http://www.helcom.fi/stc/files/shipping/shipping_accidents_2009.pdf

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organization of all the nine Baltic Sea countries and the EU which works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution. 

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," known as the Helsinki Convention.

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Monika Stankiewicz

Professional Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)40 840 2471

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 645

E-mail: monika.stankiewicz@helcom.fi

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)46 850 9196

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 645

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi