ABSTRACT
Maritime accidents, an evil that has accompanied the shipping industry over the past several millennia, threatens lives and property at sea as well as the marine environment. Understanding the history, trends, patterns, consequences, and evolution of the causes of shipping accidents over time, as well as existing research on this topic, can help the maritime society to design better ships and implement better management schemes to meet with new challenges. After introducing the fundamental concepts in the subject area, this chapter presents the trends and patterns of shipping accidents, and reviews existing studies on their causes, preventive measures, and major research methods. It is followed by an introduction of economic measures in shipping accident prevention. Finally, a summary of the existing issues and possible future trends on the prevention of maritime accidents will be provided, to motivate future research and managerial efforts in this area.
