WASHINGTON (May 21, 2025) — The National Transportation Safety Board released Wednesday Safer Seas Digest 2024, which details the most important lessons learned from maritime investigations completed last year.
Safer Seas Digest 2024 details the facts and analyzes the probable causes of 34 maritime casualties, including capsizings, collisions, contacts, fires, floodings, groundings and machinery damage. Among the events included in the report are the engine room fire aboard the passenger ferry Sandy Ground near Staten Island, New York, and the fire aboard the dinner cruise vessel Spirit of Boston in Boston.
The digest also highlights the marine safety issue of safety management systems, or SMSs, for passenger vessels—a safety issue that the NTSB has identified in numerous marine investigations. An SMS is a formal documented system that owners and operators implement to ensure that rules and procedures related to safe operations are in place. An SMS is an effective tool for safety oversight; it is designed to reduce human error, create a culture of safety at all organization levels, and reduce the risk of maritime casualties. The NTSB encourages operators to act now and implement an SMS today.
Safer Seas Digest 2024 is available online. Previous editions are also available on NTSB.gov.
The NTSB’s Office of Marine Safety investigates major marine casualties upon the navigable waters of the U.S. and accidents involving U.S. flagged vessels worldwide.
To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).
