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BSU today
Enacting the Safety-at-Sea-Investigation-Act (SUG) in June 2002, the Code for the Investigation of Marine Casualties and Incidents of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) was transposed into German law. At the same time the BSU was established as the national authority responsible for marine accident investigations in Germany.
Since then, BSU with its staff of 11, including 6 investigators, is responsible for registration and investigation of all types of marine accidents to or on board German flagged ships. Within the German territorial waters BSU, additionally, acts regardless of the flag(s) of the ship(s) involved. At this, the responsibility of BSU covers merchant ships as well as seagoing leisure crafts and traditional ships.
Having received an accident notification, the Head of BSU, in his absence his Deputy, decides whether or not to start an accident investigation. In this decision, as well as in determining the scope and content of the investigation, no instructions are to be given to BSU.
Aim of a BSU accident investigation is a comprehensive analysis and presentation of the accident event. All direct and indirect causes, the contributing factors as well as the overall circumstances shall be considered. To this aim, the SUG provides the BSU with extensive rights with regards to access to the scene of the accident, securing and analysis of evidence, commissioning of experts as well as interviewing of witnesses. All of which is not limited to only on board the ships. Also ashore, e.g. in vessel traffic service centres, at shipyards or at the manufacturers of systems and equipment, BSU has extensive options to safeguarding evidence.
At the same time, the concept of the IMO Code, and of the SUG as well, is based on a modern accident investigation aiming at achieving a safety-orientated partnership.
The principle of such a modern accident investigation is to learn from accidents. It aims to formulate safety recommendations with the sole purpose to help avoid similar occurrences in the future. Therefore, the marine accident investigation of BSU is not an investigation to apportion blame or determine liability. The specific challenge is to highlight the individual accident event from all its different angles. The safety recommendations formulated at the end should, however, help to enhance the safety of shipping in general, and thus go beyond the individual case. The addressees of a safety recommendation are those entities best in place to take remedial action(s) to enhancing safety. In formulating and determining the addressee of a safety recommendation, BSU does not regard individual safety management systems isolated, but does regard all of them as parts of an overall system the final goal of which is the overall enhancement of safety at sea. Therefore, the addressee of a safety recommendation of BSU might be an entity to which no direct failure had been attributed during the actual investigation of the accident event. The entity addressed can, however, be best placed to help avoid a similar occurrence in future, or help mitigate its consequences. Generally, the safety recommendations are published as part of the final report of BSU. If, however, the identified safety issue requires immediate action, BSU might, regardless of the status of the investigation publish a preliminary safety recommendation.
Another new element is the intended international co-operation. To fulfil the aim of a comprehensive investigation, it is necessary to take all the affected parties into account. Shipping is one of the most international industrial branches, if not the most international branch. Marine accidents of German flagged ships might occur all over the world. The flag State(s) of ships involved in accidents within the German territorial waters might be from the other end of the world. Shipping companies run their business from any place on earth, shipyards and manufacturers of systems and equipment are based all around the globe. And last but not least, the crews on board ships come from all over the world.
The BSU, through a world-wide network of accident investigation authorities (Marine Accident Investigatorsâ International Forum MAIIF), is in contact with those States the marine accident investigation procedures of which are also following the IMO Code principles. Based upon this, BSU conducts investigations in international co-operation. These can range from a simple assistance rendered to the other investigative body to a fully joint investigation concluded with a joint investigation report.
Regardless of whether being conducted only by BSU or jointly with other States, the investigations of BSU are generally concluded with the publication of a final report. In less serious cases with no new lessons to be learnt to improve safety, the investigation might be concluded with a summary report. Such a summary report only presents the sequence of events. The majority of BSU investigations, however, is concluded with a full report. These full reports contain, after the presentation of the sequence of events, an analysis finally leading to the safety recommendations of BSU. Before a full report is published, BSU prepares a draft of the report. This draft is sent, in confidence, to all parties affected by it for comments. Valid comments are taken into account in the final report.
The concept of a modern marine accident investigation, as described above, is not yet fully understood all over. In particular, the addressees of reports of the BSU frequently still conceive them as allocation of blame. But not as lessons to be learnt with the sole purpose to improve the safety of shipping, which they are intended to be.