Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Intensifies Efforts to Prevent Winter Fatalities... Prevention Measures to Continue Until February Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 30th that it has prepared a 'Winter Marine Accident Prevention Plan' to prevent the four major types of fatal accidents in winter?safety incidents, collisions, capsizing, and fires?and to manage seasonal risk factors. The plan will be implemented from December 1 to February 28 of next year in cooperation with related organizations such as the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority and the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives.

Winter is a season with more days of strong winds and high waves compared to other seasons. Due to the cold wave, the use of heating devices inside vessels increases, and the frequency of coastal passenger ship operations rises because of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Although the number of marine accidents in winter over the past five years has been somewhat lower than in other seasons, fatal accidents caused by safety incidents such as falling overboard, collisions, capsizing, and fires have occurred more frequently.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has established the winter marine accident prevention plan and plans to intensively manage and inspect the four major types of fatal accidents in winter by applying strengthened safety regulations compared to last year.

For fishing vessels and recreational fishing boats, continuous guidance will be provided to ensure the constant wearing of life jackets to prepare for falling overboard accidents. In addition, to prevent collisions, collision prevention education will be conducted alongside existing fire and evacuation training. Standard guidelines will be provided to local governments to establish speed limit regulations in hazardous areas such as maritime bridges. Furthermore, to respond to accidents, it will be mandated that at least one person is always on duty, and by the end of the year, fire alarm devices will be distributed to 15,000 coastal fishing vessels.

For general vessels such as hazardous material carriers, safety equipment such as railings will be inspected to prevent crew members from falling overboard, and life jackets must be worn during work outside the vessel. Also, the e-Navigation terminals currently being supplied will be fully operational from the end of January next year, encouraging vessels equipped with these terminals to actively utilize the automatic collision prediction alarm function.

Ship departure control during adverse weather will be enforced more strictly. Until March next year, the restriction on departures during storm warnings will be expanded from fishing vessels under 15 tons to those under 30 tons, and vessels operating at sea will be required to report their location every 12 hours to strengthen management. Additionally, shipowners will be guided not to operate recklessly during bad weather, and continuous education on sheltering procedures and anchor dragging response will be provided to fishers and crew members.

To strengthen the operation management of coastal passenger ships, a system will be established so that the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority headquarters can monitor the operation status of coastal passenger ships overall, in addition to the existing 12 regional operation centers. Moreover, by June next year, intelligent CCTV will be introduced in island areas to establish a system capable of monitoring weather conditions and entry and exit status.

Furthermore, during the Lunar New Year holiday period, when the use of coastal passenger ships increases, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Maritime Transportation Safety Authority, the Shipping Association, and passenger ship operators will operate an emergency response team to actively respond to various emergency situations.

Jung Taesung, Director of the Maritime Safety Policy Division at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "Winter is a period when the water temperature is low, making falling into the sea more dangerous, so intensive management to prevent fatalities is necessary. We will focus on joint field inspections and training with related organizations to ensure that the winter marine accident prevention measures prepared this time are thoroughly observed on site."