Safedor - Second International Workshop on Risk-Based Approaches in the Maritime Industry

To be held at:

The Ship Stability Research Centre (SSRC),
Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (NAME),
A joint Department of the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.

Organised under the auspices of the SAFEDOR Steering Committee and in close collaboration with the National Maritime Research Institute of Japan (NMRI)

Risk-Based Ship Design and Approval

Phenomenal changes in scientific and technological developments at an ever increasing pace and an overall improved technical capability at a much larger scale are fuelling innovation in the shipping sector to meet the demand for larger, faster, more complex and specialised ships. This is taking place in an industry that is still fragmented, undermanned and intensely competitive and in a society that is more vigilant and more demanding on issues pertaining to human life safety and the environment. Safety is cleanly in danger of being undermined and this necessitates change. This is particularly true for knowledge-intensive and safety-critical ships, where the need for innovation creates unprecedented safety challenges that cannot be sustained by prescription. In this state of affairs, a new design paradigm that treats safety as a design objective rather than through rule compliance ("Design for Safety") and a formalised methodology capable of embracing innovation through routine utilisation of first-principles tools, thus leading to cost-effective ways of dealing with safety ("Risk-Based Design") were advocated by the EU maritime industry as the "bridge" for the emerging gap. However, the adoption of risk-based approaches in the maritime industry is not as straight forward as it was thought and risk-assessment not as amenable to traditional naval architecture tools as rule compliance. Furthermore, the use of first-principles tools and the volume of analysis required addressing safety as a life-cycle issue within integrated design environments and holistic approaches are not meeting fertile ground among the maritime profession. Was all these too much, too soon? Was Risk-Based Design a bridge too far? Following the first workshop, held at NMRI in May 2007 to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art in risk-based design and approval, this workshop attempts to demonstrate that requisite scientific and technological developments are in place for Risk-Based Design to be implemented in the maritime industry. The real problem that remains is one of inculcation, education and training.

Workshop Outline

This two-day workshop follows the underlying philosophy of the EC Integrated Project SAFEDOR - Design for Safety / Operation / Regulation, advocating Risk-Based Design and Approval for ships and ship systems with contributions from SAFEDOR as well as other EC projects sharing the same vision to dealing with maritime safety. Emphasis will be placed on the experience gained through implementation of risk-based approaches, the issues emerging and the effort needed to realise a risk-based future in the maritime industry.

Expected Benefits and Participants

Participants to this workshop will be exposed to state-of-the-art knowledge, tools, techniques and best practice of risk-based approaches in the maritime industry by an ensemble of unique expertise in the subject, the world over. In this respect, participants are expected to enhance their understanding, know-how and appreciation in an area that is widely expected to be the face of safety in the future. The workshop is designed to attract industry and academia, dealing with maritime risk in all its facets and levels, spanning the whole spectrum of the marine industry, including: designers, operators, regulatory authorities, classification societies, risk analysts, academics and researchers.