ABSTRACT
Historically, the maritime world has been lacking a safety culture. It has placed financial gain ahead of crew and environmental safety and has been shaped by reactive measures. Maritime history is documented by numerous examples of safety initiatives that were developed and brought into force after experiencing trends in ship type losses or cargo losses, a significant loss of life or environmental damage (Keefe, 2014). For generations, ship owners and operators have pushed the limits in order to carry more cargo and make more money, with at times a disregard for safe vessel operations. This disregard of safety has been either deliberate, out of greed, or unintentional, simply due to a lack of safety knowledge. Samuel Plimsoll wrote in 1873 that a great number of ships were sent to sea regularly in such rotten and otherwise ill-provided state that they could only reach their destination through fine weather, and a large number were so overloaded that it was nearly impossible for them to reach their destination if the voyage was at all rough. These two causes alone accounted for more than half of shipping losses (Plimsoll, 1873).
