Safety of Finnish vessels

The size of Finland’s actual merchant fleet increased slightly in 2023

At the end of 2023, Finland’s registered merchant fleet encompassed a total of 1,259 vessels. These are divided into the actual merchant fleet (power-driven vessels of at least 15 m in length), small vessels (power-driven vessels under 15 m in length), barges and other engineless vessels. The actual merchant fleet consisted of 682 vessels, while small vessels numbered 284. The number of barges and other engineless vessels was 293.

Accidents involving Finnish vessels

During 2023, Traficom was informed of 32 accidents involving Finnish vessels (2022: 27 accidents), of which 25 occurred in Finnish waters and seven (7) occurred while the vessel was abroad. The number of accidents occurring abroad has varied from three to six accidents a year during the last five years.

Incidents involving Finnish vessels

In 2023, Finnish vessels were involved in nine incidents, of which seven occurred in Finnish waters and two occurred while the vessel was abroad. In 2022, the number of incidents involving Finnish vessels was ten, of which eight occurred in Finnish waters and two occurred while the vessel was abroad.

Based on a time series of five years, Finnish vessels are involved in approximately 9–27 incidents per year. Annual variation in the number of incidents has remained quite low so far, but it should be noted that the number of incidents alone does not provide information about the development of maritime safety, as the variation is random. The time series is still relatively short, making it difficult to draw any conclusions.

Accidents by vessel class

The vessel class with the largest share of accidents out of all the accidents involving Finnish vessels in 2022 was ro-ro passenger ship, which were involved in a total of seven accidents during the year, accounting for 25,9% of all accidents. Vessels belonging to the class of other vessels were involved in five accidents, accounting for 18,5% of all accidents. Passenger ships were involved in four accidents during the year, accounting for 14,8% of accidents.

Incidents by vessel class

Of Finnish vessels, ro-ro cargo vessels and passenger ships were most often involved in incidents with a total of four incidents, accounting for 44.4.% of all incidents.

Accidents by type of accident 

Examined by type of accident, 46.9% (15 accidents) of the accidents involving Finnish vessels consisted of groundings and strandings, as in previous years. The share of groundings and strandings has remained consistent over the last few years. The next most common type of accident for Finnish vessels was contact/collision at 34.4%. There were 11 contact/collision accidents.

Incidents, most likely consequence

Maritime incident reports must specify the most likely consequence of the incident, meaning what the incident would have resulted in without intervention. The most commonly reported likely consequences were other consequence and loss of control. Other consequence means that the most likely consequences of the incident could not be accurately determined. Of all the incidents involving Finnish vessels, two incidents, or 22.2%, fell into this category.

Port state controls carried out on Finnish vessels in 2023

The number of port state controls carried out on Finnish vessels in the member states of the Paris MoU in 2023 was 114. The total number of vessels inspected in the context of port state controls was 92. Two Finnish ship was stopped during 2023 in the Paris MoU area. In recent years, port state controls have resulted in the detainment of one to eight Finnish vessels per year. Finnish vessels were issued a total of 262 notices of deficiencies in 58 inspections.

Compared to previous years, the numbers of port state controls and notices of deficiencies have remained the same on average.

Ship surveys of Finnish vessels

The purpose of the survey of a ship is to ensure that the ship’s structure, machinery and equipment comply with the provisions concerning the safety of ships. The survey also ensures that the ship complies with the provisions on the prevention of pollution from ships. The survey also ensures that the vessel holds a maritime labour certificate as referred to in the Maritime Labour Convention.

In addition, in connection with or on the basis of the survey: the trading area of the ship shall be determined; the appropriate manning of the ship and certifications of the crew shall be ensured; in case of a passenger ship, the maximum number of persons allowed on board shall be determined, the number not to exceed that requested by the owner or the master of the ship; the ship shall be verified to carry valid certificates and all other required documents and statutes; it shall be decided if the ship may be used in winter navigation; it shall be determined that the deck lines and load line marks have been assigned; and the seaworthiness of the ship shall be ensured in every other respect.