An investigation of the maritime accident in the Aegean Sea Turkish search and rescue region

Abstract

The Aegean Sea is risky for marine accidents due to its geography and dense vessel traffic. Revealing the patterns of marine accidents in the region is essential for preventing such accidents in the future. With this motivation, this study analyzes the data on maritime accidents in the Aegean Sea Turkish Search and Rescue Region. For this purpose, the descriptive analysis of the 576 marine accidents in the region between 2001 and 2020 was accomplished. Moreover, by applying hypothesis tests, the relationships between the factors that affect the occurrence of marine accidents were investigated. As a result, the most common contributing factors to the event of accidents were revealed. The relationships between the variables of the data set were determined. Accordingly, the type of ship with the most accident are yacht/recreational boat. Hull/machinery failure is the most common type of accident, and summer is the most frequent season for maritime accidents. It was revealed that there are significant relationships between the variables such as the type of accident, the sub-region where the accident occurred, the time of the accident, and the ship type. Finally, deficiencies were evaluated, and suggestions were made for more effective investigation and prevention of accidents.