How Long Can You Survive in the Open Sea with a Life Jacket?

If you were adrift in the open sea wearing only a life jacket, how long could you survive? In 2024, a crew member in his 20s from Vietnam fell overboard from a cargo ship passing off the coast of Newcastle, Australia.

When a missing person report was filed, multiple agencies launched searches, but struggled to locate the crew member.

Amid the search, a fisherman spotted the crew member floating in the water, leading to his dramatic rescue.

It was 19 hours after the missing person report had been filed.

As illustrated by this incident, life jackets are the most fundamental equipment for protecting lives during maritime accidents.

In South Korea as well, casualties such as disappearances and deaths from maritime accidents peaked at around 160 in 2024, heightening the importance of life jackets.

Most accidents occur when crew members fall overboard or get caught in fishing nets while working on fishing boats and other vessels.

According to the Maritime Safety Policy Division of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on the 8th, wearing life jackets—the quintessential life-saving equipment—plays a crucial role in reducing casualties in maritime accidents.

An official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said, "An analysis of major maritime accidents in the first half of this year showed that the survival rate reached 84% when life jackets were worn at the time of the accident."

Consequently, mandatory life jacket regulations have been gradually strengthened.

Starting in July of this year, all crew members on board fishing boats have been required to wear life jackets.

"For vessels operating in distant waters, it is difficult to visually verify whether crew members are wearing life jackets, making it most important to recognize life jackets as the top priority safety equipment and wear them voluntarily," a ministry official said. "To raise safety awareness among the general public and related workers, we plan to establish customized education and systems, such as introducing a system to accumulate mileage upon completing safety training."

The Maritime Safety Policy Division is also working to systematically manage maritime traffic routes to address safety issues arising from the rapidly changing marine traffic environment.

Recently, the risk of maritime accidents has been growing due to increasing vessel traffic volumes, as well as ships becoming larger and faster.

In addition, marine development projects such as offshore wind farms are expanding, rapidly altering the environment of areas where ships navigate.

In response, the ministry analyzed the density of vessel traffic in South Korea's coastal waters and identified and published major maritime traffic routes.

This approach involves periodically reflecting changing vessel traffic volumes and density to cope with shifts in the maritime traffic environment.

Furthermore, just as environmental impact assessments are conducted for various land-based development projects, the ministry operates a system to pre-evaluate vessel traffic risks resulting from development at sea.

This is known as the "Maritime Traffic Safety Assessment."

The Maritime Traffic Safety Assessment was introduced to pre-investigate and evaluate vessel traffic risk factors that may arise from projects affecting maritime traffic, such as marine construction, and to present safety measures that project operators must prepare.

An official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said, "Marine development project operators and others should fully consider maritime traffic congestion levels and the results of maritime traffic safety assessments when utilizing and developing marine areas safely."

The Maritime Safety Policy Division, which is responsible for safety on the sea, also plays a role in operating laws and systems that form the foundation of vessel safety management.

A prime example is Port State Control (PSC), often referred to as maritime "immigration control."

Port State Control is a system that inspects whether foreign vessels entering South Korean ports are complying with international safety standards.

If critical defects are found, such as fire safety or lifesaving equipment falling significantly short of international standards, a "detention" order can be issued to prevent the vessel from departing until the defects are rectified.

South Korea's vessel detention rate stood at around 5.4% last year and 7.5% this year, placing it in the upper tier among member countries of the Port State Control committee in the Asia-Pacific region.

Regarding this, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official stated, "It is the result of thorough inspections to prevent maritime accidents caused by inadequate safety management of foreign vessels entering our territorial waters."

Establishing internationally accepted maritime safety standards centered around the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and reflecting them in domestic laws is also a core task of the Maritime Safety Policy Division.

South Korea has been elected to the Category A Council for 13 consecutive times since joining the IMO, actively participating in major decision-making processes in the international maritime sector.

"South Korea's standing within the IMO has risen to an unimaginable degree compared to 10 years ago," a ministry official noted. "Particularly in shipping and shipbuilding, South Korea is so advanced that major maritime developed nations even propose submitting agenda items together first."

"We will strive to lead maritime safety technology development and advance it into IMO agenda items so that South Korea can spearhead international maritime safety," the official added.

(Photo provided by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.