Passenger launch accidents: Time to wake up

Worldwide Ferry Safety Association (WFSA), a non-profit organisation dealing with the improvement of ferry safety globally, has recently published a list of top five countries for ferry (passenger ship) accidents within the period of 2000 to 2014, in which Bangladesh is at the top position followed by Senegal, Tanzania, Indonesia and Philippines. Moreover, according to the study by WFSA, 95 percent of the total ferry accidents occurred in the developing countries, claiming about 17,000 lives including those missing.

According to International Maritime Organisation (IMO), a specialised agency of the UN responsible for ensuring global maritime safety, the situation has definitely reached to a worrying state in Bangladesh. Even though many of these accidents involve non-conventional domestic water-crafts that fall outside the IMO regulations, IMO feels the urgency to enhance the safety of vessels carrying passengers on non-international voyages in certain parts of the world like Bangladesh. In order to address this particular problem concerning the massive death toll due to launch accidents in our inland waterways, IMO and Interferry, the trade association for WFSA, have already started a ferry safety project for developing countries to significantly cut down fatalities through technical cooperation, workshops, etc. IMO and Interferry have already jointly organised a training course for launch crews in Bangladesh and since 2013, WFSA is running a ferry design competition internationally for students. Surprisingly, the topic for the first competition in 2013 was to design a safe and affordable passenger vessel for the Dhaka-Barisal route. Considering the seriousness of this issue, IMO is already prompted to develop, adopt and implement safety codes for non-conventional water-crafts like passenger launches for developing countries like Bangladesh.

Undoubtedly, this could be an excellent opportunity for our country to improve the safety standards of our passenger vessels. Thus we should straightway seek technical assistance as well as other relevant support from international organisations like IMO and Interferry. However, depending only on outside assistance would not be enough to solve this long-lasting problem; alongside this, we should form robust working groups involving stakeholders from different levels, academicians and local experts. 

At present, a huge number of water-crafts are plying inland waterways without any valid document of permission like registration certificates and fitness survey certificates. A long-term plan should be formulated to gradually bring these vessels under registration and survey, which would not only improve the overall safety of ferries and other water-crafts but would also enable the government to earn revenue from these vessels.

A number of investigation committee reports on launch accidents have identified sunken-deck type launches as most vulnerable, especially at rough water routes. For example, after the M. L. Pinak-6 tragedy, around 15 sunken-deck type launches were withdrawn from service, but only temporarily. If we are really concerned about safety, then these vulnerable small-size launches should be taken away from service permanently as soon as possible. 

Since a large number of vessels ply river routes without any valid documents, there is no reason to believe that licenced drivers would be employed to operate them. Moreover, currently there are only three government training centres in Narayanganj, Barisal and Madaripur, to train inland deck and engine personnel, which is way below the current demand. Both public and private sectors should take initiatives to set up more training centres to train inland masters and drivers. Meanwhile, the training course organised by IMO and Interferry will develop the knowledge of launch crews, thereby fortifying safety. However, until the government implements such courses for launch crews all over the country, benefits that can be availed from this training will not have a far reaching or long term effect. At the same time, the current licencing system for masters and crews should be upgraded, incorporating practical tests of vessel operation.

At present a ship surveyor spends only 15 to 20 minutes for the yearly fitness survey of an inland vessel. On the contrary, according to Inland Shipping Rule 2001, a ship surveyor should check 21 different items while taking a survey. A survey certificate, thus, doesn't guarantee that the survey of the vessel was properly performed. It is true that with only four surveyors, it is not possible to properly survey around 10,000 vessels in a year. It is therefore of vital importance to appoint more ship surveyors as well as ensure that the 20-minute survey system be upgraded with strict monitoring.  

Every year, especially during Eid and Puja, it is common to find launches leaving the Sadarghat terminal, filled to the brim with thrice their registered passenger capacity limit. According to the law, however, the traffic inspector should check the number of passengers on a vessel, among other responsibilities, before giving it permission to leave the terminal. A viable solution could be to ensure that passengers buy their tickets in advance, before entering the terminal to board the launch. 

If a passenger vessel with watertight decks and adequate number of partitions capsizes, it still can remain afloat, thus providing sufficient time to rescue passenger. Unfortunately, due to a lack of watertight decks, when faced with an accident, most passenger launches capsize and sink immediately. Moreover, most launches do not have enough life jackets or lifebuoys and these lifesavers are never checked for before the vessel leaves the terminal. 

The support from IMO and Interferry would definitely help to prevent launch accidents in inland waterways, but we need proper, timely implementation and strict monitoring to ensure that such accidents do not take place.

The writers are Faculty Members, Department of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET).

E-mail: mtarequeali@ name.buet.ac.bd