CTX Casualty Database Help File > Search Tool [Close]

This experimental interface to Version 4.2 is work in progress. The interface is not complete, nor completely tested. Currently, to see event details, you must disable your popup blocker. You will also need to manually delete the event detail windows. The CTX database allows multiple causality, but this interface does not implement nor reflect this capability. Pls email problems, suggestions to cdb@c4tx.org.

• To view ALL RECORDS, simply click "Search CTX Casualty Database", leaving all fields empty.
• To find a casualty by ship name, enter at least the beginning of the ship name. A wildcard search is performed on the end of the string, so it is not necessary to enter the entire ship name. CURRENTLY, THIS SEARCH IS BASED ONLY ON THE 1ST SHIP LISTED IN THE CASUALTYY>
• To search ships alphabetically, enter a single letter. EXAMPLE: enter "A" to retrieve all records with ship names that begin with "A"
• To find casualties by IMO Number, enter a seven digit IMO number (9999999) CURRENTLY, THIS SEARCH IS BASED ONLY ON THE 1ST SHIP LISTED IN THE CASUALTY.
• To view a set of records for a specific date range, enter a FROM YEAR and a TO YEAR both in YYYY format.
To view only records for a single year, enter that year in the FROM YEAR field.
• You may also specify a deadweight range. THIS RESTRICTION WILL BE BASED ON THE FIRST SHIP LISTED IN THE CASUALTY.
• You may also restrict your search by Number Killed and Spill Size. Simply enter a number in either or both of these fields. A 1 in these fields will restrict your search to casualties with known dead or known spillage respectively.
• You may also restrict your search by ship type, primary cause category, coastal state most affected, flag state or classification society at time of casualty, and by geographic area (hotspot). Simply select from the drop down lists. Currently you can only pick one choice from each list.
Once you call for a search, you will be shown a list of casualties that meet your criteria. By default, the list will be sorted by known dead. You may re-sort by clicking on the little arrows at the top of the table.
• You may drill down into a casualty by selecting one of the casualties in your list. The heart of the CTX database is the Major Event Sequence. An event may be a Primary Cause, a Necessary Cause, a Possible Cause, a Secondary Cause or non-causal. The Primary Cause is shown in red. The Necessary Causes, if any, are shown in yellow. The Possible Causes, if any, are shown in a very light yellow. The SecondaryCauses, if any, are shown in a light blue. The non-causal events have a grey background.
• You may further drill down by selecting on of the events. This will display the details of that event. If the date or time of day is shown in red, then the database contains no event specific date/time for this event. The value(s) shown are those for the casualty as a whole, which may not be correct for this event.
• You may also select one of the buttons at the top of the casualty's summary table. If you select Precis File, you will be shown the source material upon which the CTX description of the casualty is based, either in the form of links or straight text. If we have relevent photos or plans, these may be displayed by selecting Images. There is also a button for each Ship involved in the casualty. Clicking on one of these buttons will display whatever data we have on that ship.

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Background

The CTX Tanker and Bulk Carrier Database is perhaps the only freely available, reasonably complete collection of major, worldwide tanker and bulk carrier casualties. It is certainly unique in its emphasis on cause. The motivation for and the philosophy underlying this data base is laid out in Uses and Abuses of Ship Casualty Data. All the individual casualty data is available to anyone without charge, under the Gnu Free Documentation License (GFDL).

Full Downloads

Users should be aware that this web interface allows only the simplest queries, and does not display all the data which can run to hundreds of fields for some casualties. Serious researchers will need to consult the manual.. and then download the latest version. This can be done by sending a request to cdb@c4tx.org. The entire database is an XML format so it can be accessed without any proprietary software.

Disclaimer

All complex databases contain errors and this is doubly true of casualty databases which necessarily require subjective judgement in converting often incomplete, sometimes conflicting information into a bunch of computer codes. Some care has been taken in compiling the CTX database, but it is certainly incomplete and it certainly contains errors. The CTX can take no responsibility for these errors nor the consequences thereof. The CTX welcomes any any corrections, additions, comments, etc which contributions, if used, will be fully credited in the precis file if desired. The CTX will also protect the identities of contributors who wish to be so protected. Contributions can be sent to cdb@c4tx.org.

Acknowledgements

Data has been extracted from many national and regional casualty databases, most importantly the USCG Marine Incident Exchange and REMPEC. Coastal state investigation reports, especially the Australian, have proven invaluable. The CTX database is in debt to many to many individuals, most importantly Norman Hooke, Richard Cahill, Auke Visser, and Pierre Woinin. Much ship data has been derived from Equasis and the remarkably complete Miramar Ship Index.