The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) will now post marine safety investigation reports on its website to help address safety issues.

The posting does not seek to apportion blame or determine liability, according to MARINA Advisory (MA) No. 2025-07. “Instead, these investigations are separate from and independent of any criminal, administrative or other form of investigations and shall serve solely to prevent future recurrence of incidents,” the advisory said.

The posting is in “the interest of service” and in keeping with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Code of International Standards and Recommended Practices for a Safety Investigation into a Marine Casualty or Marine Incident (Casualty Investigation Code), and MARINA Circular (MC) No. MS-2022-01.

Under the Casualty Investigation Code and MARINA MC No. MS-2022-01, maritime safety investigations are conducted with the objective of preventing maritime casualties or incidents in the future.

Currently, there is already one safety investigation report on the swamping and sinking of a landing craft tank in 2023 published in MARINA’s website.

Seafarers, shipowners, and all other concerned maritime entities are enjoined to utilize the reports to address safety issues and to uphold the highest standards of safety. They are, however, refrained from using the reports for purposes beyond improving the maritime safety, that can lead to inaccurate or misleading interpretations undermining the very essence of its purpose.

The marine safety reports published on the MARINA website will be limited only to cover “very serious marine casualties” involving conventional vessels and/or other cases, as may be deemed appropriate by the maritime authority, containing significant valuable insights that may help improve the overall maritime safety.

Very serious marine casualties refer to marine incidents that involve the total loss of ship, loss of life, or severe damage to the environment.

MARINA MC No. MS-2022-01 adopts the Casualty Investigation Code as an integral part of the rules and regulations on the conduct of marine safety investigations into marine casualty/incident. The Code’s objective is to provide a common approach for IMO member states, such as the Philippines, to adopt in the conduct of marine safety investigations into marine casualties and marine incidents.

Under the Code and other IMO treaties, party states have the obligation to provide IMO with reports on marine casualty and incidents, which are used in the organization’s casualty analysis process, which, in turn, supports the IMO decision-making process.