The governance regarding shipping safety in the Surabaya's West Shipping Channel is very important because it affects the smoothness of movement of ships, which carry goods and passengers to the ports in Surabaya City. Due to the frequent occurrence of ship accidents in the channel, there is a possibility that these accidents were caused by several factors related to the governance in the Surabaya’s West Shipping Channel, conducted by several institutions, especially the Surabaya Harbormaster. This study required data that was obtained from the relevant informants, while other supporting information was obtained by direct observation in the field. The data was then analyzed using descriptive qualitative method. From this analysis, it was found several findings concerning the factors causing the accident of ships in the shipping channel, namely: the technical condition of the ships, the level of professionalism of the ship's crews, natural factors of the channel, the condition of navigation aids along the channel, and installation of infrastructures by various parties in the sea. The next finding were about things that have not been achieved by the government, such as the law enforcement regarding the ships’ maintenance, the training and exercises for the ship's crews especially in handling ships’ accidents at sea, the law enforcement regarding the installation of under sea infrastructures, and the installation of proper navigation aids along the shipping channel.

Keywords: Governance, Surabaya west shipping channel, Sea accident, Shipping safety, Harbormaster.