In its annual Safety and Shipping Review released last week, Allianz provided a statistics review of shipping incidents by vessel type, by cause and by region, for the last decade (2008-2017). The report revealed that cargo ships accounted for almost half of incidents, while the main cause has been foundering accounting for over half of all total losses during this period.
Total losses by type of vessel
- Cargo, fishery, bulk, passenger and tug are the vessel types that have seen the most total losses over the past decade.
- Cargo (42%) and fishing vessels (15%) account for almost 60% of the 1,129 total losses over the past decade.
- Cargo vessels accounted for over half of all total losses during 2017, with activity up year-on-year from 34 in 2016 to 53 in 2017 (an increase of 56% year-on-year).
- Fishing, passenger and tug losses were down year-on-year.
- Bulk and tanker losses increased.
- Passenger ship total losses halved over the past year to 5 losses, with activity located in the top hotspots of the South China waters and the Mediterranean. Fire was the cause of 3 losses.
Total losses by cause
- Foundered, wrecked/stranded, fire/explosion, machinery damage and collision are the most frequent causes of loss at sea over the past decade.
- Foundered (sunk/submerged) has been the cause of over half of all total losses over the past decade. It accounted for an even higher share of all losses through 2017 (65%). Bad weather is often a factor.
- The number of total losses caused by fire and explosion halved year-on-year to 6, although three of these vessels were among the 10 largest lost.
Total losses per region
- The East Mediterranean and Black Sea region has been the location of the most shipping incidents for the past six years.
- However, 2017 saw a significant decline in activity – 18%.
- In 2017, machinery damage is the top cause of incidents around the globe, accounting for 42% of casualties, followed by collision (13%) and wrecked/stranded (12%).
- The East Mediterranean and Black Sea region is also the location with the most shipping incidents over the past decade (4,618).
- Of the 25,967 reported casualties over the past decade, approximately a third were caused by machinery damage (8,532), followed by collision (3,787) and wrecked/stranded (3,740).
- These figures include total losses of 1,129.
