When collision or grounding happens, a ship's hull suffers a great load in a short time. It is a nonlinear dynamic response process including material, geometric, and contact nonlinearities. Aspects that need to be examined include fatalities, cargo spills, damage stability, residual strength, and economic and social impacts. The research of ship collision and grounding includes many uncertain factors such as environmental conditions, collision or grounding properties, and strength. With decades of data, the research approach for ship collision and grounding can be divided into five methods: analytical; numerical simulation; empirical formula; experimental research; and risk analysis, which has been developed in recent years. The analytical and numerical simulation methods are older than the others. Because of a lack of accident data, the accuracy of the empirical formula method is limited. Because of similar uncertainty rates, only the local part of the ship, or the single member, can be used in the experimental research method, thus hindering scalability. The risk analysis method unites probability and statistical methods with the damage mechanism concerning the probability of and results from accidents.
Collision and grounding at sea may cause serious problems for ships, the environment, and human life. To understand the consequences of ship collision and grounding, the following aspects need to be researched: