Feature and cause analysis of global ship contact accidents by using DEMATEL-AR

With the development of large-scale ships and the shipping industry, ship contact accidents also occur occasionally. In order to enhance navigational safety and control the risks from contact accidents, it is necessary to investigate the characteristics of global ship contact accidents and in-depth analysis of their causes. This paper focuses on the feature and cause analysis of contract accidents by incorporating the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and association rules (AR) based on global ship contact accidents from 1977 to 2022. First, the contact accident data are dealt with regarding involved ships, accident severity, and spatial and temporal distribution of contact accidents, and a frequency matrix of contact accidents is proposed. Second, a co-occurrence network model is proposed to identify the critical features of contact accidents. Third, the frequency matrix is further processed as the complex network’s input matrix using the DEMATEL method and AR. Furthermore, the complex network of influencing factors of ship contact accidents is used to identify the relevant factors affecting the severity of ship contact accidents and pollution degree. Then, the centrality of the complex network is analyzed to obtain the critical factors affecting the severity of ship contact accidents and pollution degree. The research results can provide theoretical support for risk management of contact accidents.