Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2019

Keywords

Ship Inspection, Seaworthiness of ships, Ship surveyors, Ship Safety Act

Abstract

Ship inspection does not guarantee the safety and seaworthiness of ships as the results of the inspection, and the act features a collective evaluation. However, since the Sewol accident, the possibility of criminal punishment for individual ship surveyors has drastically increased, and the problem has deepened. This is a very unusual phenomenon that contradicts the concept, characteristics and nature of ship inspection. To the contrary, in foreign countries, protectionist legislation is found that exempts ship surveyors, who performed the inspection in good faith, from any liability. The current Ship Safety Act stipulates government accountability, but the responsibility of the inspection rests with the natural persons of civil society. This is not only against the public interest of ship inspection, but also causes the rigidity of ship inspection. In the present era, the ship surveyors, natural persons, are placed in a blind spot away from any protection. This paper aims at presenting this problem.

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