Accidentability as Change Factor in Safety Policies of Cruises and Passenger Ships

Abstract

From the professional point of view, we cannot conceive our society without the existence of a reg-ulation that is responsible for regulating the behavior of people. Companies are not oblivious to thisfact and in the field that concerns us, no shipping company can obviate compliance with regulationsor regulations that directly affect them. The maritime sector, and within it the one referred to cruisesand passenger ships, is one of the most regulated worldwide; Organizations such as the InternationalMaritime Organization (IMO), the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the rest of publicentities, develop and ensure compliance of the safety regulations on board these ships. On more thanone occasion, we wonder how in such a regulated sector, such as the maritime one, there are still impor-tant and recent accidents such as those of Costa Concordia (2012) or Sewol (2014). In addition, studiesshows that 80% of this accident rate is mainly due to the human factor. Unfortunately and as we want tomake clear in this work, the promulgation of safety standards or updating them, rarely in the maritimesector is done with foresight and normally this occurs after the accident has occurred. Through thiswork, we want to review the most relevant accidents that have clearly promoted the promulgation orupdating of important regulations and rules in order to maintain the safety of human life at sea; havingspatial consideration on cruise ships, ferries, line ships or passenger ships in general throughout recenthistory