Risk assessment of coupling links in hazardous chemicals maritime transportation system

The hazardous chemicals maritime transportation system (HCMTS) belongs to a typical complex tech-social system, which is comprised of multiple functions with interactions. To quantitatively assess the risks triggered by failure coupling links (CLs) between upstream and downstream functions, a hybrid method integrating the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM), fuzzy set theory, and risk matrix is proposed in the present study. A total of 10 essential functions and 16 CLs involved in HCMTS were identified by FRAM. The fuzzy set theory was adopted to aggregate the weights of risk consequence and likelihood for CLs. A risk matrix with a continuous scale was utilized to assess and rank the CLs' risks. The results have been demonstrated by the comparisons, indicated that the risk indexes (RIs) of the CLs between the functions < Consignment of HCs> and <Undertaking the transportation>, <Consignment of HCs> and <Declaration of HCs>, <Loading HCs in port> and <Ship navigation at sea > are higher in the whole chain of HCMTS.