Incident Category
Incidents involving a vessel, or her crew, occurring within the last 5 years and recorded within the RightShip Platform may be included within vessel Safety Score and DOC Subscore calculations.
RightShip actively encourage the pro-active submission of incident notifications/investigations and will credit a positive adjustment to DOC Subscore calculations for pro-active notification of incidents not already recorded on the RightShip Platform. This positive adjustment will also have a small positive impact on a vessel’s Safety Score but proactive submission of incident notifications and investigations will also allow for an efficient vessel vetting process which would otherwise stall pending submission and review of closeout. Additionally, in cases where an acceptable post-incident RightShip Inspection is required for positive vetting recommendation pro-active submission and timely review allows more time for arranging and conducting such inspections prior to vetting.
Definitions for Incident categories
Category A incident is an event where there is either:
- A loss of life, a loss of a person from a ship; incidents with significant impact on health of multiple persons, including life changing events
- A total physical loss of any of the involved ships and/or marine infrastructure
- An incident requiring abandoning the ship
- Deliberate pollution, severe pollution to the environment, potential for large pollution*
- Crew abandonment
- A serious breach of applicable law
- A sequence of events with aggregate impact greater than Category B.
Category B incident is an event where there is either:
- Work related injuries with medically diagnosed condition/s or permanent disability leading to inability or limitation to be re-employed at sea under original duties
- Significant damage to any of the involved vessels
- A total economic loss of any of the involved ships and/or marine infrastructure (with final classification dependent on extent of damage and other relevant factors)
- Extensive accommodation damage
- Severe structural damage
- An event such as explosion, fire, underwater penetration of the hull, flooding
- A breakdown, loss of propulsion or manoeuvrability necessitating towage or shore assistance
- Serious pollution*
- any other incident classed as serious including avoidable events with causes within the control of management
- Sequence of events aggregate impact greater than Category C.
Category C incident is an event where there is either:
- A Lost Time Injury except cases in Category A and B
- Pollution less than that of Category B*
- Recorded pollution of/by wash water (not covered above), MARPOL Annex V, VI and ballast water
- An unplanned breach of primary pollution containment, with no loss to the environment
- An event causing minor damage to vessel/s such as a contact, early contained fire or any other incident less serious than those listed in Categories A and B
- Slow down of main engine(s)/ propulsion limitations – depending on impact on safety of local navigation.
Category D incident is an event where there is:
- No or negligible effect on the vessel's operations: A medical first aid case or lost time injury not related to work, minor operational leaks or near misses. These events are excluded from Safety Score and DOC Subscore calculations.
Category U incident:
- "U” refers to Uncategorised, Undefined, Uncertain information received about an event, however more information or assessment is needed to determine the nature of the event, if the event should be recorded as an incident within the RightShip Platform, and if so to define the applicable category.
- Category U events have no effect on vessel Safety Score or DOC Subscore calculations, however may require further assessment during vetting.
- Category U events are included for transparency, and where an incident and requires close out, the category will be updated.
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* - Severity of pollution:
Deliberate pollution – self-explanatory, including “magic” pipes.
Severe pollution – damage to the environment which, as evaluated by the coastal State(s) affected or the flag State, as appropriate, produces a major deleterious effect upon the environment, or which would have produced such an effect without preventive action (as defined by EMSA EMSIP). Also, loss of secondary containment for gaseous cargoes.
Serious pollution – pollution by MARPOL Annex I, II, III, IV and/or chemicals (IBC and BCH Codes).
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Supporting notes:
- The above definitions are not exhaustive but are intended to support consistent and proportionate categorisation of incidents, recognising that professional judgement and case‑specific assessment remain essential.
- An incident may also be an event without adverse consequences – i.e. an unplanned event with or without adverse consequences.
- Incidents which were outside of management/crew control (e. g. damages caused while moored by another colliding vessel) are recorded in RightShip Platform however are marked as having no effect on Safety Score. In most cases this is done after investigation report has been received.
- For having any incident closed in the RightShip Platform and a positive vetting recommendation the submission of a completed incident investigation/closeout submission is required (in line with ISM Code requirement to have all non-conformities, accidents and hazardous Occurrences reported, analysed and measures intended to prevent recurrence implemented) – See Desirable Content of an Incident Investigation Report.
- Failure to submit an acceptable root cause analysis, corrective and preventive measures for Category C incident may result in implementing the requirement to have an acceptable RightShip Inspection for positive vetting recommendation and/or for having the incident closed in RightShip Platform.
- As a part of quality assurance RightShip may undertake reviews of closed incidents and may amend an incident category upon review and/or following our consideration of any new or additional information that becomes available.
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Impact of an incident on Safety Score is related to the severity of an incident. Category A is the highest, with category D having no effect. Timewise: the highest impact is during the 1st six months after the incident, decaying at 6 month and then annually from the 1st anniversary. Complete relief is after 5 years since the incident. The incident will affect the DOC Subscore of the DOC holding company for a period of up to 5 years from the date of the incident even if the vessel changes DOC company.
Once an incident of Category A, B (or C) is recorded against a vessel within the RightShip Platform as having taken place in the past 36 months, the vessel’s Safety Score will drop to 2/5 or 1/5, as per Safety Score 1 and 2. A new Category C incident shall only affect the Safety Score if there are at least two other Category A, B or C incidents within the past 36 months, and if applicable Category C incidents were not pro-actively reported.
Although they may be marked as CLOSED, most category A and B incidents (which are marked as not affecting Safety Score) require an acceptable post-incident RightShip Inspection (SIRE for tankers) prior to the provision of a positive vetting recommendation. Post incident RightShip Inspections may incorporate verification of preventive measures that were stated within the incident closeout submission.
When the incident is closed in RightShip Platform the Platform will initiate a Safety Score review and depending on the severity/number of incidents in the last 36 months will either return the vessels Safety Score to at least 3/5 or hold it to 2/5 awaiting completion of a post incident RightShip Inspection (SIRE for tankers) or completion of a 2 stage manual Safety Score Review.
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Illustrative Case studies – Incident Impact on Safety Score
Note: The examples below illustrate the effect of incidents on vessel Safety Scores (and DOC Subscores) only - Other influencing factors are also not considered. These are only illustrative and not exhaustive or intended to cover every possible scenario.
Case Study 1 – Category B Incident (Single Incident, No Prior History)
Scenario
Vessel experiences a loss of propulsion resulting in a grounding. The incident is classified as a Category B incident.
Background
- No incidents recorded in the previous 36 months
- Pre-incident Safety Score: 3/5
System Impact
- Upon recording the incident, the Safety Score reduces to 2/5
Post‑Incident Review
- A satisfactory closeout submission is reviewed and accepted
- Incident record is marked CLOSED
Outcome
- Safety Score returns to 3/5
- During the closeout process, the vessel’s DOC Company is notified whether a post‑incident RightShip Inspection is required before a positive vetting recommendation can be issued
Case Study 2 – Category B Incident with Prior Incident History
Scenario
Vessel is involved in a collision requiring immediate repairs. The incident is classified as a Category B incident.
Background
- One previous Category B incident within the past 36 months (closed)
- Pre-incident Safety Score: 4/5
System Impact
- Upon recording the incident, the Safety Score reduces to 2/5
Post‑Incident Review
- Satisfactory closeout submission reviewed and incident marked CLOSED
- Safety Score remains at 2/5 due to SS2‑14 (multiple Category B incidents within 36 months)
Outcome
- During the closeout process, the vessel’s DOC Company is notified whether a post incident RightShip Inspection is required before a positive vetting recommendation can be issued
- Following completion of an acceptable post‑incident RightShip Inspection, or once the earlier incident no longer falls within the 36‑month window:
- Safety Score increases to 3/5
Case Study 3 – Category C Incident (Non‑Transparent Reporting)
Scenario
Vessel makes hard contact with a pier, resulting in minor damage. The incident is not proactively reported by the DOC Company and is classified as a Category C incident.
Background
- This is the vessel’s third incident within the past 36 months
- Pre-incident Safety Score: 3/5
System Impact
- Upon recording the incident, the Safety Score drops to 1/5 due to SS1‑14
Post‑Incident Review
- A satisfactory closeout submission is reviewed
- Incident record is marked CLOSED
Outcome
- Safety Score increases to 2/5, with SS2‑15 continuing to apply
- Following completion of an acceptable post‑incident RightShip Inspection:
- Safety Score further increases to 3/5
Case Study 4 – Category C Incident (Transparent Reporting)
Scenario
Damage to one of a vessel’s auxiliary engines resulting in a loss of power at sea. The incident is proactively reported by the DOC Company and classified as a Category C incident.
Background
- This is the vessel’s third incident within the past 36 months
- Transparent reporting applies
System Impact
- Due to transparent reporting:
- SS1‑14 and SS2‑15 do not apply
- Safety Score does not drop below 3/5
Post‑Incident Requirements
- A satisfactory closeout submission is required
- The incident must be marked CLOSED
Outcome
- A positive vetting recommendation may be issued once closeout requirements are met
Case Study 5 – Category A Incident (Fatality)
Scenario
A work‑related onboard fatality occurs. The event is classified as a Category A incident.
Background
- One previous Category C incident within the past 36 months
- Pre-incident Safety Score: 4/5
- Pre-incident DOC Subscore: 4/5
System Impact
- Upon recording the incident:
- Safety Score reduces to 1/5 due to SS1‑9
- DOC Subscore reduces to 3/5 due to DOC3‑1
Post‑Incident Review
- Satisfactory closeout submission is reviewed and the incident marked CLOSED
Outcome
- Safety Score increases to 2/5 (SS2‑4 applies)
- DOC Subscore remains capped at 3/5 for 6 months following the Category A incident
- Following completion of an acceptable post‑incident RightShip Inspection:
- Safety Score increases to 3/5
- After 6 months with no further Category incidents:
- DOC Subscore increases to 4/5