On Monday January 20, 2025, a violent wave struck a French fishing boat. The boat overturned, resulting in the death of a 22-year-old sailor. This tragic event reminds how sea jobs are risky.
Why Maritime Jobs Are Incredibly Risky
Maritime professions are incredibly risky. This dramatic event is a reminder of just how indomitable and impetuously the sea can be. Every year, 100,000 fishermen die around the world. There are several reasons for such a high death toll. Firstly, extreme weather conditions expose workers to violent storms, freezing temperatures, waves and powerful winds.
These conditions contribute to the instability of the marine environment, making maneuvering particularly difficult. As a result, most maritime jobs are very tiring, both physically and mentally. For example, on large Chinese fishing vessels, workers sleep in damp mattresses due to condensation, drink yellowed water and have to stand from 6pm to 6am. Working at sea can lead to stress, anxiety and even depression.
Because of this fatigue, careless mistakes are not uncommon at sea. Paul Barning’s accident on Monday February 24 is a case in point. This fisherman was swept out to sea off Sydney. He disappeared after tripping over his own net after fishing against a 4-meter-long Mako shark.
On the other hand, work at sea is a source of security risks, relating to criminal activities. In some parts of the world, seafarers are under threat from criminal and terrorist organizations. BMI recorded 79 incidents, including 111 crew members taken hostage, between January and September 2024.
Top 3 most dangerous maritime jobs
1. Fisherman
Fishing is often considered the most dangerous job in the world. Fishermen have to prepare and launch fishing gear, process catches and maintain the vessel.
Sea conditions make this physical work even harder, and can affect the morale of fishermen. They are out at sea for days, and sometimes even weeks at a time. On a day-to-day basis, living conditions are really tough.
Sailors are perpetually in the wet, and can go nights without sleep. Fishing vessels are like floating factories, constantly in need of repair if a machine, net or trawl is damaged.
This mission is particularly dangerous for fishermen, who can cut themselves on a cable or burn themselves on the engines. According to one survey, the accident rate among seafarers is 70% higher than for land-based occupations.
2. Underwater welder
Little known to the general public, this is one of the riskiest professions in the world. Underwater welders work underwater on maintenance missions and contribute to the construction of underwater structures such as oil and gas pipelines.
The welder’s technical skills are needed to fortify the maritime infrastructures of the naval and energy industries. To achieve this, underwater welders carry out their operations at depths of dozens of meters, under massive aquatic pressure, in murky, icy waters.
In these extreme conditions, welders have to master their power tools perfectly to avoid electrocution. Underwater welders are exposed to risks of decompression and drowning in the event of equipment failure.
3. Offshore oil technician
Petroleum technicians work alongside sub sea welders. They check and repair oil station equipment and machinery. They are therefore responsible for ensuring the safety of oil extraction, to avoid any explosions.
On March 21, five people perished in a fire at an oil station in Gabon. It’s a very tiring job, with extreme temperatures and 12-hour working days, 7 days a week for a month non-stop. This increases the risk of accidents and negligence.
In-Depth Case Study The Paria Delta P Tragedy
On February 25, 2022, five industrial divers were violently sucked into a Paria Fuel and Trade Company pipeline to Trinidad and Tobago. While carrying out underwater repairs, the five divers from maintenance company LMCS were confronted with the Delta P phenomenon.
Delta P stands for “pressure difference”. It’s a pressure drop in a piping system that creates a vortex sucking everything in its path. It is the leading cause of fatal accidents in the industrial diving sector.
In the case of our five divers, they were sucked into a pipeline, 365 meters long and only 76 cm in diameter, after removing the sealing plug. In less than a minute, the maintenance workers covered 200 meters, in complete darkness and in the viscosity of the oil.
The power of the suction was not without consequences for the divers’ bodies. Fractures to the arms and legs, and shock to the head. Chris, the only survivor, confided, “I’ve been preparing myself for heaven”.
Miraculously, the five divers found themselves in a 15-centimeter air pocket, but were trapped in the pipe. Chris decided to climb back up the pipe to look for help. On his way, he finds oxygen cylinders that have been sucked out. He pulls himself up to the pipe entrance. Divers outside the pipe find him and help him to extricate himself from the pipeline.
Chris, the survivor, begged the Paria company to send a rescue team, but the company refused. Sending a rescue team was too risky, as no one knew if the crew was still alive.
On February 27, 2022, Paria president Newman George issued a press release stating that the divers trapped in the pipeline were presumed dead. Over the following days, the lifeless bodies of the last four trapped divers were found.
Consequently, human error was the cause of the disaster, and the question of responsibility is still being debated. Be that as it may, this tragic event is a reminder of just how little room there is for professional approximation on the seabed.
Emerging Safety Technologies and Innovations
However, the emergence of new safety technologies is considerably improving working conditions at sea. For example, the use of reconnaissance drones is expanding rapidly, to monitor marine areas that are difficult to access by man. Drones are also used to carry out meticulous missions that very few human beings are capable of carrying out in extreme conditions. The use of a drone in the Paria case would undoubtedly have prevented the five divers from being sucked into the pipeline.
Other emerging technologies are helping to reduce marine worker fatigue. Autonomous systems are increasingly being fitted to boats. They involve automating highly tiring tasks, such as navigation and processing captured goods. Artificial intelligence is even beginning to be added to trawlers. This technology uses sensors to detect the species being caught, and then seizes only the prey of interest.
This technology reduces fish processing time, a very time-consuming task for marine fishermen. This intelligent system is also used to prevent the fishing net from snagging on obstacles and becoming damaged. As a result, sailors spend much less time repairing their fishing gear. This task used to be a major source of injury for seafaring workers, who cut themselves on wedges or tools.
