The Implementation of Risk Management processes as a contributing factor to the minimization of shipping disasters through the study of previous shipping accidents

Environmental disasters can maliciously affect property, human lives and even entire ecosystems. The magnitude and extent of such a disaster can lead to uncertainty about who is liable and how the restoration of the environmental damage will be achieved. The implementation of Risk Management processes enables us to combine our available information and resources and learn how to avoid such problems in the future. In shipping industry, oil spills from tanker vessels constitute the most severe threat to local and global ecosystem. When an oil spill happens, it usually spreads rapidly and is affected by weather and sea currents. Without prompt treatment it can cause huge disasters in the local aquatic ecosystem and human property altogether. This paper will assess the famous accident of Exxon Valdez based on Risk Assessment Methods and more specifically with the method of Root Cause Analysis to identify and measure the effect of each contributing factor to each accident and with Failure Mode Effect Analysis to identify the best solutions to minimize such risks in the future.