The IMO’s risk assessment framework, the FSA, could provide a way to evaluate ship-whale collisions mitigation solutions.
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A taxonomy is presented for analyzing hazards contributing to ship-whale collisions.
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The pros and cons of using the IMO's FSAS for evaluating whale collision avoidance proposals are analysed.
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The IMO's FSA is modified to take into account factors relevant to both whale conservation and ship-related costs and risks.
Abstract
Ship strikes are one of the main human-induced threats to whale survival. A variety of measures have been used or proposed to reduce collisions and subsequent mortality of whales. These include operational measures, such as mandatory speed reduction, or technical ones, such as detection tools. There is, however, a lack of a systematic approach to assessing the various measures that can mitigate the risk of ship collisions with whales. In this paper, a holistic approach is proposed to evaluate mitigation measures based on a risk assessment framework that has been adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), namely the Formal Safety Assessment (FSA). Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) is “a rational and systematic process for assessing the risk related to maritime safety and the protection of the marine environment and for evaluating the costs and benefits of IMO's options for reducing these risks”. The paper conceptualizes the use of a systematic risk assessment methodology, namely the FSA, to assess measures to reduce the risk of collisions between ships and whales.
