Industry group InterManager is slamming the shipping industry for its ‘inadequate’ reporting of serious and fatal accidents following the deaths of two workers in an enclosed space aboard a ship.

InterManager is an international association representing ship and crew managers involved in the management of over 5,000 ships and over 250,000 seafarers.

“Two more workers have died this month. It was about two shore workers who apparently ‘got the wrong space’ on a freighter and paid the ultimate price for their mistake,” said Captain Kuba Szymanski, InterManager’s general secretary.

InterManager has been tracking incidents involving confined spaces since 1999, when confined spaces claimed the lives of 104 seafarers and 51 shore workers. But Captain Szymanski fears those numbers are much higher than reported and says he believes there is under-reporting by maritime authorities.

“The shipping industry is very slow to report accidents in confined spaces, as is also the case with lifeboat incidents. Accident reports take years, even for flag states rated as ‘excellent.’ IMO’s Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS) database is largely ignored by flag states,” said Captain Szymanski.

According to Captain Szymanski and InterManager, only 26% of confined space accidents were reported through GISIS, which means 74% of accidents go unreported.

“By not reporting accidents, the shipping industry is not giving people the opportunity to properly investigate, understand and learn from them. This potentially puts the lives of more people at risk. seafarers and port workers,” said Captain Szymanski.

He is now urging the shipping industry to do more to tackle the root causes of confined space accidents, which InterManager says include ship design, time pressure on workers and conflicting and confusing regulations.

InterManager is currently working with members of the Human Element Industry Group (HEIG) to identify key risk factors and potential solutions to minimize fatalities and injuries in confined spaces.