Commercial pressures are forcing seafarers to take safety shortcuts that risk death and injury during container ship unloading operations, a major study has found.
Boxships spend the least time at port of any ship type, with seafarers often starting the unloading process before the vessel berths, according to an 80-page report by the World Maritime University.
Pressure from the top to work fast creates “a fertile ground for unsafe practices”, said the researchers, who studied 242 safety investigation reports for container ships over 12 years to 2022.
