Sea travel is perilous at the best of times due to unpredictable weather conditions and at least 200 vessels a year are lost at sea and never found. There are many disasters which can befall a vessel whilst at sea, or even whilst in port. On this site we aim to investigate these disasters and the consequences they caused. Below are some of the disasters which can occur:
Capsize – When a vessel is overturned or turned on it’s side, correcting a capsized vessel is called righting.
Grounding – When a vessel impacts with the sea bed.
Beaching – When a vessel is deliberately grounded in shallow water. This is not technically a disaster as some vessels are designed to be beached however when large vessels are grounded they are often beached to prevent them from sinking in deep water.
Allision – When a vessel hits an object that is not moving. The vessel is always deemed to be at fault in such a case.
Collision – When two moving vessels hit each other.