This new ABS publication, “Guidance Notes on the Investigation of Marine Incidents” outlines a structured approach to the investigation of incidents and near-miss events. The information contained can also assist with identifying and documenting root causes as required by the ISM Code. These Guidance Notes provide instructions for the performance of incident investigation activities including incident investigation initiation, data gathering, data analysis, root cause determination, generating recommendations, and reporting and trending of incident investigation results.

The MaRCAT™ (Marine Root Cause Analysis Technique) marine incident investigation methodology presented in these Guidance Notes is designed for use in investigating and categorizing the underlying causes of incidents, including accidents and near misses, with safety, health, environmental, quality, reliability, production and financial impacts. MaRCAT provides an effective and efficient approach for investigating marine incidents of any magnitude. The objectives of this approach are as follows:

• Provide ABS Clients with a technique that will guide incident investigators in the conduct of root cause analyses and in identifying, documenting and trending the causes of accidents and near misses.
• Assist clients with the investigation of a variety of types (e.g., groundings, collisions, fires, etc.) and sizes of incidents (minor to major, including near misses) related to their vessels and facilities (ashore and at sea).
• Allow analysis of losses whether they are related to safety, the environment, human element concerns, security, reliability, quality or business losses.
• Support Class-related activities such as ABS Safety, Quality and Environment (SQE) notation, as well as the International Safety Management Code (ISM Code) and the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.
• Provide a technique that is sufficiently flexible to allow customization to a client’s own management system, Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) programs or related initiatives.