Groundings, collisions, fires, storm damage and accidents are daily occurrences for ships on the high seas, but you’d never know it from the coverage the subject receives in the general media. The unhappy fact of the matter is that when containers are swept overboard in heavy seas, or two ships collide in a busy channel, newspapers and broadcast media never seem to take notice – unless of course it produces a fuel spill that pollutes the nearby shore and fouls a few seabirds. If you’re interested in the subject of maritime safety, I would like to direct you to one of my favorite trade magazines. It’s called Safety at Sea International (www.safetyatsea.net), and it’s published in the United Kingdom by the Lloyd’s Register Fairplay group. In publication for more than 40 years, the magazine reports on all the issues affecting safety, including equipment, casualty reports, training, procedures, navigation, firefighting, flooding, lifeboats, regulatory issues, piracy and everything else you can imagine. The editors and journalists, mostly professional mariners who have served at sea, take a hard look at issues affecting safety for ships and seafarers. I especially enjoy the monthly MARS (Marine Accident Reporting Scheme) comments, which are written in the first person by mariners discussing recent safety violations, accidents or near-misses at sea.
I was pleased to be invited as a guest of the editors to attend the Third Annual Safety at Sea Awards dinner earlier this month. It was held in Oslo during the Norshipping maritime conference and exhibition. It was a pleasure to spend an evening in the company of marine industry professionals who take safety seriously and who have been recognized for their contributions to the field. Awards were presented in four categories: equipment, systems, training and management/operations. In addition, a special AMVER (Automated Mutual-assistance Vessel Rescue System) award was given to pay homage to bravery and seamanship in assisting those in peril on the sea.
The AMVER award went to Captain Lazaros Vasileiadis and the crew of the tanker Parthenon, who were recognized for their role in rescuing four Swedish sailors from their yacht during stormy seas off Cabo de São Vicente, Portugal. The weather was so rough that a rescue helicopter was forced to return to shore, and the yacht’s liferaft had been swept away. Despite the conditions, Capt. Vasileiadis maneuvered the ship alongside the foundering yacht and brought the four sailors aboard.
You can read about the awards and the winners at www.marinenewswire.com. 
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