Examination of Shipping Accidents along the Turkish Straits by Using Correspondence Analysis

Abstract

The Turkish Straits, consisting of the Istanbul Strait (the Bosphorus), the Sea of Marmara and the Canakkale Strait (the Dardanelles) are very complicated and narrow waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea arm of the Mediterranean. The Turkish Straits carries substantial safety risks for navigation, life and environment because of heavy national and international marine traffic. This situation increases also the risk of shipping accidents into the Turkish Straits coastal areas. The shipping accidents (collision, capsizing, fire, grounding, strike etc.) have a direct influence on the marine fauna and flora due to oil pollution. In this study, the data of 910 shipping accidents occurred in the Turkish Straits Areas during the period between 1997 and 2008 were analyzed by Correspondence Analysis. Correspondence Analysis is an exploratory technique designed to investigate the relation between row and column variables of a two-way contingency table, similarities and differences among categories graphically. In this study, it is aimed to facilitate the interpretation of similarity, difference and relations among the categorical variables related shipping accidents such as the main causes of accident, accidents' types, and accidents' locations, State of flag, gross tonnage and type of vessels involved in the accidents and to see the outcomes on a graphic.