Analysis of Accident Factors in the Auto Banner Fire Incident through AHP Method

This study applied the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to systematically identify and quantify the causal factors of the Auto Banner fire incident that occurred at Incheon Port in 2018. Based on the investigation report of the Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal and expert surveys, the causal factors were classified into three categories: cargo, management, and facility factors. A paired-comparison survey was conducted with 74 seafarers to derive the relative importance of the factors. The results showed that the maloperation of the fixed CO₂ fire extinguishing system (0.2806) was the most influential factor, followed by failure to close fire compartment openings (0.1567), risk of cargo self-ignition (0.1210), insufficient initial emergency response capability (0.1007), and inadequate knowledge of firefighting equipment (0.0986). Among the upper-level criteria, management factors (0.5165) received the highest weight, indicating that human error and procedural non-compliance had a greater impact on the failure of fire suppression than structural limitations. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of AHP as a quantitative tool for maritime accident analysis and provide empirical evidence to enhance fire safety management and emergency response training systems for roll-on/roll-off(RO-RO) vessels.