UK MAIB publishes the marine accidents statistics for 2019, reporting 1090 accidents to UK vessels or in UK coastal waters.
The year saw 1 090 accidents reported, a reduction on 2018 (1 227). 22 investigations were started,
compared with 23 in 2018, and 21 in 2017.
For the tenth successive year, no UK merchant vessels of 100gt or more were lost. The overall accident rate for UK merchant vessels of 100gt or more was 74 casualties per 1 000 vessels (compared to 64 per 1 000 vessels in 2018 and 75 per 1 000 vessels in 2017). No passengers lost their lives due to accidents involving UK merchant vessels of 100gt or more during 2019. However, three crew lost their lives on UK merchant vessels of 100gt or more: two fatalities occurred during self-mooring / unmooring operations; and, one fatality occurred as a result of being struck by a moving gantry crane on deck.
Five commercial fishing vessels were recorded as lost in 2019, compared with eight in 2018 and six in 2017. The loss rate of fishing vessels remains low at 0.09% of the fleet. Five commercial fishermen lost their lives during the year due to accidents (six in 2018, five in 2017), though a shore-based engineer also lost his life in the engine room of a fishing vessel.
The incidents involved 1192 vessels and 433 are not included in this overview as they were accidents to people that did not involve any actual or potential casualty to the vessel.
Specifically, there were 657 accidents involving 730 commercial vessels that involved actual or potential casualties to
vessels. These are broken down in the following overview:
Regarding UK merchant vessels of 100gt or more, UK MAIB reported 8 serious marine accidents, as well as 150 less serious accidents.
As for UK merchant vessels of under 100gt, they reported more serious accidents in comparison to UK merchant vessels of 100gt or more. Specifically, 9 serious accidents and 127 less serious accidents:
In addition, UK fishing vessels reported 7 very serious accidents, and 11 serious accidents, confirming the danger of the professions. 181 less serious accidents were also reported.
Non-UK commercial vessels in UK 12 mile waters were also included in the report. Namely, 1 very accident and 8 serious accidents were reported, in addition to 175 less serious accidents.
As for the reason of accidents:
- Loss of control comes at first place with 21 incidents;
- Collission is second with 2o incidents;
- Grounding comes third with 15 incidents.