Decision tree and logistic regression analysis to explore factors contributing to harbour tugboat accidents

Abstract

As tugboats interact very closely with ships in restricted waters, the possibility of accidents increases in these operations. Despite the high accident possibility, there is a gap in studies on tugboat accidents. This study aims to analyse accidents involving tugboats using data mining. For this purpose, a tugboat accidents dataset consisting of a total of 496 accident records for the period from 2008 to 2019 was collected. Logistic regression and decision tree algorithms were implemented to the dataset. The results revealed that tugboat propulsion type is the most important and influential factor in the severity of tugboat accidents. The inferences drawn from these results could be beneficial for tugboat operators and port authorities in enhancing their awareness of the factors affecting tugboat accidents. In addition, the outputs of this study can be a reference for management units in developing strategies for preventing tugboat accidents and can also be used in effective planning for practicable prevention programmes and practices. © 2020 The Royal Institute of Navigation.