Doctor William Moore, senior vice president & global head of loss prevention, the American P&I Club examines the lessons the maritime sector can learn for the year ahead on enhancing safety.

Clear, consistent and practical safety guidance continues to offer an important reminder of what truly improves safety at sea. In 2025, the safety incidents that we monitored and issued alerts on themselves varied widely, including close-call situations ranging from collisions in restricted visibility to gangway injuries, fire risks, inaccurate digital data and winter deck hazards. However, the underlying causes were strikingly familiar. Assumptions went unchallenged, communication was delayed or indirect, and responsibility was quietly handed off to systems, procedures or other people, but ultimately, human intervention was key to preventing major incidents.

What lessons can we learn heading into 2026? One of the most valuable aspects of near-miss reporting and safety communications is their focus on the moments before things go wrong. Rather than analysing accidents after the fact, these updates draw attention to everyday shortcuts and overlooked risks that, if left unchecked, can escalate rapidly into serious incidents. Delivered in multiple languages for clarity and accessibility, they recognise the realities of modern shipping: multinational crews, time pressure and information overload. The result is safety guidance that is widely understood, shared and remembered.

The Dangers of Silence

One recurring theme throughout 2025 was the danger of silence on the bridge. Several alerts centred on bridge resource management demonstrated how incidents occur not because hazards go unnoticed, but because no one feels compelled, or empowered, to speak up. In one case, a vessel struck a channel marker buoy after wind and current steadily set it off course. Multiple members of the bridge team recognised what was happening, yet each assumed someone else would intervene.

The pilot was distracted, the Master waited for a correction that never came, and the opportunity to prevent the incident passed. The financial consequences were significant, but the potential for far greater damage was even more concerning. The lesson was simple: effective bridge resource management depends on active communication, not quiet observation.

That same pattern of assumption and overreliance was seen in one of the year’s most serious incidents, when a bulk carrier and an offshore supply vessel collided in fog. Both vessels were aware of each other’s presence. Both had pilots onboard. A functioning Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) was monitoring traffic in the port. Yet each party assumed someone else would act.

The offshore supply vessel pilot assumed the bulk carrier would correct its course. Both bridge teams assumed the VTS would intervene. The Master assumed that raising a concern meant action would follow. No direct vessel-to-vessel communication took place, and by the time evasive action was ordered, it was too late.

The collision caused more than $4.5 million in damage and took both vessels off charter for weeks. More sobering still was the potential outcome: a bow-to-bow impact could have killed crew members working forward on the OSV. The message was unequivocal: VTS is a support service, not a substitute for vigilance, and unverified assumptions are navigational hazards in their own right.

Technology and Reliable Data

Technology featured prominently across the 2025 alerts, not as a solution in itself, but as a tool whose effectiveness depends entirely on human input. Incidents involving the Automatic Identification System reinforced that it is only as reliable as the data entered. When vessel details or tow configurations are inaccurate or outdated, other mariners are left without the information they need to make safe decisions.

These cases highlighted how misplaced confidence in digital systems can create risk just as quickly as equipment failure, particularly when crews assume that what appears on a screen must be correct.

Away from navigation, safety communications repeatedly returned to the risks created by time pressure and routine complacency. Alerts addressing gangway and accommodation ladder operations showed how the rush to get underway can lead crews to skip basic verification steps, with potentially fatal consequences.

These are not complex operations, which is precisely why they are dangerous when discipline slips. The guidance deliberately focused on slowing down, confirming that everyone is clear, and resisting the temptation to modify procedures for the sake of convenience.

Fire Detection & Prevention at Sea

Fire prevention and engine room safety also featured strongly throughout the year and will continue to be a particular focal area for 2026. Small fuel or oil leaks, open fire doors and overheating components were shown to be early warning signs rather than minor issues.

These updates stressed that good engineering practice is about identifying hazards before ignition occurs, not reacting once alarms sound. The inclusion of thermal imaging in routine maintenance plans was highlighted as a practical way to spot heat-related risks early, reinforcing the broader theme of proactive rather than reactive safety management.

Housekeeping and seasonal operations were also key features of the last 12 months of alerts, reminding crews that safety is built on consistency. Poor housekeeping increases the risk of slips, trips, fires and delayed emergency response, while winter conditions introduce additional hazards that require planning rather than improvisation.

Toolbox talks, clear expectations and proper preparation were repeatedly emphasised as simple measures that prevent injuries long before conditions become critical.

Early Hazard Identification is Critical

Across all these scenarios, one message was repeated with deliberate clarity: when hazards are identified early, when assumptions are challenged, and when concerns are voiced without hesitation, accidents are often avoided entirely.

By sharing real-world examples that crews can recognise from their own experience, we hope to create actionable insights that improve safety for seafarers. In an industry where the cost of silence can be measured in lives as well as dollars, safety rarely depends on a single dramatic decision. More often, it hinges on small moments: a question asked, a concern raised, an assumption verified, or a near miss shared before it becomes something worse.

Looking ahead to 2026, the challenge for our industry is to strengthen the human behaviours that underpin safe operations in a fast-evolving world. Proactivity must replace assumption. Knowledge must be shared openly across vessels, fleets and organisations. And, most importantly, seafarers at every level must feel empowered to speak up, challenge uncertainty and act early without fear of blame or hesitation.

By encouraging early hazard identification, open communication and collective learning, the maritime industry can move into 2026 better prepared, not only to respond to incidents, but critically, to share the right knowledge ahead of time to help prevent them altogether.