A quantitative effectiveness analysis to improve the safety management system (SMS) implementation on-board ship

The International Safety Management (ISM) Code seeks to provide safety standards for the safe management and operation of ships. The code stipulates implementing a safety management system (SMS) on-board ship. The SMS requires the implementation of numerous procedures and forms to improve safety at the operational level on-board ship. The SMS effectiveness is vital for sustainable safety management system implementation. This paper aims to perform a comprehensive effectiveness analysis of ISM Code implementation, including forms and procedures, on-board ship to enhance the safety management system (SMS) implementation. To accomplish this, a best-worst method (BWM) is used under a fuzzy logic environment. Whilst the fuzzy BWM has yet to be applied in maritime transportation; it provides a robust analysis approach. The proposed method is improved by adopting the impact level of expert judgments in the aggregation stage of the methodology as well as performing consistency analysis. Besides its robust theoretical insight, the outcomes of the paper provide the utmost contribution to ship management companies and safety professionals for continuous improvement and monitoring of their safety management systems implementation.