A study of the distribution of marine incidents in the harbours and waters surrounding Taiwan

This research aims to discover information underlying the historical records of marine incidents in order to develop an effective marine traffic management system and rescue resource allocation system in the harbours and waters surrounding Taiwan. Data were collected from the official records of the Taiwanese Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Coast Guard Administration of Taiwan. Data analysis and Google Earth were utilized to determine the locations of the occurred incidents. The results revealed that on an annual basis, the proportion of marine incidents outside of harbours was much higher than the incidents that took place within harbours. The results also showed that the rate of increase for marine incidents significantly decreased outside of harbours, but increased within harbours, both for commercial vessels and fishing boats from 2005 to 2009. Certain events, such as collisions/contacts, groundings/standings, mechanical malfunctions/failures, and fires/explosions accounted for more than half of the occurred accidents. Finally, the identification of incident locations provides visual evidence to elucidate precisely where the problems are and where rescue resources should be optimally allocated. Recommendations and implications for marine traffic management policy were discussed.