A study on human casualty characteristics and relative concentration by accident type in recreational fishing vessel accidents
This study compared casualty patterns between general fishing vessels and recreational fishing vessels to examine accident-type differences in human casualties. Marine accident data for 2021-2025 were obtained from the Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal. Casualty intensity (CI) for fatalities and missing persons combined and for injuries was calculated as the mean number of casualties per vessel in which the corresponding casualty category occurred. The relative casualty concentration index (RCCI) was calculated as the ratio of each accident type’s casualty share in recreational fishing vessels to that in general fishing vessels. Recreational fishing vessels accounted for 15.4% of vessels involved in accidents, but 29.5% of casualties. Human casualties per 100 accident-involved vessels were 14.91 for general fishing vessels and 34.28 for recreational fishing vessels, a 2.3-fold difference. Corresponding fatality and missing-person CI values were 1.31 and 1.56 persons/vessel, and injury CI values were 1.35 and 4.59, respectively. Collisions, groundings, and contacts accounted for 91.9% of recreational fishing vessel casualties. Injury CI values for contacts, groundings, and collisions were 8.86, 4.69, and 4.68 persons/vessel, respectively; the corresponding RCCI values were 22.84, 9.58, and 1.64. Collisions were prominent in terms of absolute casualty burden and CI while contacts and groundings showed high injury CI and relative casualty concentration. Together, CI and RCCI provide baseline information for interpreting accident-type casualty characteristics and reviewing safety management measures.