Human and operational factors in the risk assessment of ship-to-ship operations

This paper presents human and operational factors related to risk assessment during the operations of crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied gas transfer between ships, called Ship to Ship (STS) operations. The lessons learned from accidents during STS when both ships are underway show that the most frequent accidents occur due to ship handling errors. Several influencing factors have already been identified, however there is still a need to investigate the human factor. Both human and operational factors are interrelated as the operational factors influence the human stress level. This paper identifies the stressors related to the external pressures imposed on the ship’s staff, which can be limited to improve safety. The preliminary study of the influence of particular elements of human factors, e.g., personality traits and stress levels, on the probability of ship handling error is presented.