A combined method for the evaluation of contributing factors to maritime dangerous goods transport accidents

This paper evaluates the contributing factors to maritime dangerous goods (DG) transport accidents by integrating the Entropy Weight (EW) and Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) methods. For this purpose, investigation reports of maritime DG transport accidents that occurred worldwide between 2000 and 2023 are derived from the International Maritime Organization’s Integrated Shipping Information System (IMO GISIS) database’s Marine Casualties and Incidents (MCI) module. Eleven main ship operations and thirteen primary causes were selected by analysing accident investigation reports. The weights of main ship operations are calculated utilizing the EW method. The correlational degrees of the primary causes are then calculated using the GRA method. Most maritime DG transport accidents occur during unberthing, bunkering, and pilotage operations. The most common contributing factors of maritime DG transport accidents are collisions and occupational accidents. Specifically, maritime DG transport accidents are most likely to be caused by collisions during sailing, passage, maneuvering, and bunkering operations, as well as occupational accidents during cargo loading, anchoring, berthing, and mooring operations. The results of this paper can support stakeholders in developing the needed policies to guarantee the safety of maritime DG transport.