This study investigates whether the International Safety Management (ISM) Code remains an effective regulatory tool for the shipping industry by analysing maritime accident statistics published for the last 32 years by the Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal, 24 years by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and seven years by the European Maritime Safety Agency. For this purpose, the data were divided into four groups: pre-ISM Code, in-transit, post-1 and post-2 periods, and tested by multilateral comparative analysis. The results show that the Korean merchant fleet has no improvement over the periods, whereas the world merchant fleet has a continual decrease in serious casualties. This study confirmed a trend of maritime accidents in recent years: fewer in number but heavier in damage. Conclusively, the results suggest that IMO and decision-makers in the maritime industry must review the ISM Code again and seek solutions to achieve the goal of continual improvement, as specified in the code.

This paper presents key models and concepts developed in psychology which help to understand the role of human factors in complex systems. It aims to explain their significance for anyone who wants to analyze the role of human factors in maritime accidents. Reason (1990, 1997, 2000) makes a crucial distinction between “active failures” that are made by first-line operators (captain, officers or members of a crew) and “latent failures” that are deeper causes and upstream factors concerning people who are at a distance from the accident. In agreement with this theoretical framework, this paper proposes examining the role of human factors in maritime accidents at three different levels: i) the level of individual – and namely cognitive – factors of first-line operators, ii) the level of social – and namely interpersonal – factors and iii) the level of systemic or organizational factors which correspond to “latent failures”. For each level, the main and recent contributions of the human and social sciences are presented and then used to analyze an emblematic accident.