Analysis and Management of Human-Based Risks in Ship Operations with Fuzzy FMEA and Fuzzy DEMATEL Methods

The operations carried out on ships, which bear most of the world trade load and constitute the fundamental element of maritime commerce, involve many risks. In today’s context, the concept of risk has evolved into the assessment of risk, and various methods have been developed to reduce or eliminate risks. In this perspective, the objective of the study is to identify and assess human errors, a major risk factor in accidents occurring in ship operations, through an integrated fuzzy approach, and manage them accordingly. By emphasizing the inherent risk in the nature of the human factor in maritime operations, this study makes a noteworthy contribution to maritime literature by identifying human-based risk factors using Fuzzy FMEA and Fuzzy DEMATEL methods. Although FMEA and DEMATEL methods are widely used in risk assessment in literature, there are limited number of research integrating Fuzzy Logic into these methods. Therefore, this study holds importance in presenting human-based risk factors through two different methods and highlighting the impact of the human factor in ship operations, which inherently involve risks.