The quote "lies, damned lies, and statistics" is attributed to either the Victorian British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli or the US author Mark Twain. It is often used to discredit an argument based on a collection of data. Shipping relies heavily on statistics. So do they show the full picture and help drive improvements or must we beware of being blinded to the bigger picture by the way they are used? The International Safety Management (ISM) code, for example, requires companies to record incidents and accidents and use the statistics to formulate and improve safety and operational policy. Numerous other maritime authorities, government bodies, and industry organisations issue data and statistics on such a scale that can be difficult to keep up with or properly evaluate what is being shown.
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