Identifying crucial safety assessment criteria for passenger ferry services

This study empirically identified crucial safety assessment criteria for enhancing ferry safety and compare difference between ferry passengers', ferry operators', academics' and ferry governors' perceptions of their level of importance in Taiwan. Exploratory factor analysis was subsequently conducted to summarize the safety assessment items into underlying dimensions. Six dimensions were identified, namely: safety equipment, ship structure, ship documentation inspection, safety instructions, navigation and communication, and crew members' ability. Further analysis indicated that crew members' ability was the most important dimension in the passenger ferry context, followed by safety equipment, ship structure, navigation and communication, ship documentation inspection, and safety instructions. Differences between passengers' academics', ferry operations' and ferry governors' perceptions of the level importance of the safety assessment dimensions were found. Implications of the study findings for improving the safety of passenger ferry services are discussed.