How safety audits are sinking an industry

On 3rd January 2015, the car carrier Hoegh Osaka went aground near Southampton. The ship developed an excessive listing while departing from the port which subsequently led to grounding and capsizing off the channel.

The official report reads:

‘One area of company SMS [safety management system] that is in need of modification is its use of extensive checklists. The five checklists contained within the PCC/PCTC Operations Manual that were completed by the chief officer during Hoegh Osaka’s call at Southampton contained a total of 213 check items, all of which had been ticked, and none of which had been signed as having been verified by the master.’

For background, car carriers follow a demanding voyage itinerary, face intense time pressure and subject to rapid port turnaround. Against this background, there are 213 checks and 5 checklists to be completed by just one person while in port.

How did we get here?

Let’s take a look at how global shipping is regulated. A ship owner buys a ship, but he has not expertise to operate the ship. The owner then hire a ship management company to operate the ship. The ship manager is chosen for their technical know-how and their ability to ensure quality management within an agreed budget. Ship managers are known to impress the owners with their ring binders and standardised off-the-shelf solutions.

In this way, a highly non-standardised product (ship) enters into a competitive market and it is brought to order through a raft of audits. On average a ship goes through anything between 15-50 audits annually. Much of this work is mundane and repetitive. For instance, how many times can you ask the same question about the same fire extinguishers and the ship’s certificates? But that’s not the real problem.

Auditing is a game of power. Seafarers and ship managers realise that auditors have to find something. It’s an existential need. The goal is not to avoid non-conformances but to (tacitly) steer towards those that can easily be fixed.

This tacit game between the auditors and the operators is what keeps an entire industry moving without ruffling a single feather.

Auditor: I have to find something. It won’t be anything serious 🤫

Operator: We welcome audits, it helps us to improve 😃

Auditor: Then don’t argue. Just add one more check to the process and you will be safe.

Those 232 checks that led to the capsizing of the Hoegh Osaka did not come from nowhere. It came from years of hard work, coordination and negotiation between the auditors and the operators.

Imagine a watermelon. Everything is made to look green on the surface even when it is blood red inside.

One would think that the inside of the watermelon will be exposed on the day of the accident but because it is so rotten, the investigators leave it covered for the seafarers to enjoy.

Safety audits are sinking the maritime industry.

Why do we not talk about it at all?