By Mamadou Edrisa Njie, reporting from Tangier, Morocco
The fisheries sector is still one of the sectors with the highest risk of accidents due to harsh and dangerous environment which causes accidents widely, so stated Mr. Abennaji Laamrich of ATLAFCO.
He was presenting on the ‘dangerousness of work at sea: analysis of accidents of fishermen, causes and consequences,’ at the ongoing Ministerial Conference on Fisheries Cooperation Among African States Bordering the Atlantic Ocean (ATLAFCO) seminar on the main theme: “For access to decent and secure jobs in fisheries in West Africa”, being held from 3rd – 4th October, 2019, in Morocco.
In aiming at reducing of marine accidents, Mr. Laamrich lamented also that any accident at sea, in harbor or on inland waters involving loss of life results in pain and suffering noting the survivors, the families and the community endure grief, loss and confusion.
“The sea is the most dangerous workplace and the Marine accidents have been occurring ever since men started to set sail,” the ATLAFCO official reminded his audience which comprised participants from different countries, including the small West African state of The Gambia, in the person of the Publisher & Managing Editor of Mansa Banko Online, Mr. Mamadou Edrisa Njie.
According to Laamrich, by the middle of the 19th century, the navigational standards emerged primarily as regulations for preventing collisions at sea.
Recalling on history, he enlightened that, since the beginning of the last century, marine accidents have resulted in maritime industry efforts to improve in ship construction, ship systems reliability and onboard operations organization.
On what is marine accident, he explained that it’s a damage to a vessel or facilities other… those related to the operations of a vessel and death or injury of the people concerned with the construction, equipment or operation of a vessel.
The seminar heard that the recurring causes of accidents involves human factors, as he pinpointed that lack of maintenance, negligence, navigation errors, addition of drugs or alcoholism, stress and fatigue are the main factors.
As ATLAFCO’s Laamrich outlined, some of the technical factors could be as a result of: no equipment or malfunction, use of unsafe fishing gears and lack of safety equipment, while the external factors include weather situation. He continued that, machinery failure or the extremes of the weather may, in some cases, be the cause of incidents at sea, but he also indicated that human error remains a ‘stubborn’ contributing factor.
Mr. Laamrich again: “The human failure contributes to most fishing vessel casualties, fatalities, and injuries. If not the direct cause, human factors are an element in accidents and complicate implementation of safety improvement alternatives.”
He further pointed out that human factors are frequently associated with marine casualties, and these could be inexperience, inattention, fatigue, judgmental errors, and navigational errors.
On preventive measures of marine accidents, Mr. Laamrich referred to Article 6, paragraph 6.17, of the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries which recognizes that: “States should ensure that fishing facilities and equipment, as well as all fishing activities, allow for safe, healthy and fair working conditions and meet internationally agreed standards adopted by relevant international organizations”
He cited the safety improvement options, including the establishment of risk communication or safety awareness programs, publishing and distributing safety publications.
The official added that, it also requires emergency preparedness measures, develop and promulgate standard operating procedures, develop competency standards. He believed promoting education and training, and the requirement of education and training with certification are all important.
