The International Safety Management (ISM) Code 2002: A failed attempt to regulate the safety culture of the international maritime community?

The International Safety Management (ISM) Code 2002 was adopted by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in order to establish a safety culture within the international maritime community, with the aim of reducing maritime casualties. It is the most important piece of legislation coming from the IMO with regards to safety, and the first piece that demanded a change in the behaviour and attitude of the international maritime community. Although initially a success, the Code is now being ignored by ship companies, seafarers and the courts. Evidence of this can be seen with the 2012 Costa Concordia disaster and the subsequent criminal trials. This paper uses Reason’s model of accident causation to analyse the Costa Concordia disaster, from an ISM-Code perspective, to demonstrate that: 1) had the ISM Code been implemented by both the Concordia’s owners and those on board, the disaster would have been avoided; and 2) multiple parties, both corporate and human, were responsible for the disaster and the resulting loss of life. The paper will show that the Italian courts’ ignoring of the Code resulted in an absurd and unjust judicial decision, and has served to undermine and damage the IMO’s desired safety culture.