Marine Link
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Shipping Losses Lowest in 10 Years

Maritime Activity Reports, Inc.

March 25, 2015

 2014 was the safest for world shipping in a decade according to the Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE’s (AGCS) third annual Safety and Shipping Review 2015. Global shipping losses continued their downward trend with 75 reported in last year.

 
The big Allianz insurance group said that only 75 ships over 100 gt were lost to sinking, grounding, or fire/explosion last year - down 32% on the previous year, making 2014 the "safest year in shipping in 10 years".
 
According to the German marine insurer the long-term trend looks even better, with last year's level of total losses 41% below the 10-year average of annual total losses (127). Since 2005 shipping losses have declined by 50%, AGCS said.
 
 More than a third of the total losses 2014 occurred in two geographic areas Maritimes: southern China, Indochina, Indonesia, and the Philippines (17 ships) and Japan, Korea and northern China (12 ships). The cargo and fishing vessels accounted for more than 50% of all losses.
 
The most common cause was the shipwreck (sinking / submersions) which represented 65% of the losses in 2014 (49). With 13 ships blocked or destroyed, stranding was the second leading cause, followed by fire / explosion (4) in third place, but with a significant decline year over year.
 
The report found that South China and South East Asian waters were hotspots for losses. More than a third of 2014’s total losses were concentrated in the two maritime regions: South China, Indo China, Indonesia & Philippines with 17 losses, followed by Japan, Korea and North China with 12.
 
According to the report, there were 2,773 accidents at sea in the world (including total losses) in the course of 2014. The eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea area have been the hot spots (490), up 5% year over year. 
 
The British Isles, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Bay of Biscay are in second place (465), an increase of 29%, and has also been the hot spot for accidents in the past decade. December is the worst month for the losses in the northern hemisphere, while August is the worst month for the southern hemisphere. For each total loss in the southern hemisphere, there are about 7 in the northern hemisphere.
 
When talking maritime losses and casualties, the type of vessel has shown to play a significant role over the years. In 2014, a third of the vessels lost were cargo ships (25), while fishing vessel was the only other type of vessel to record double digit losses (14). Together, cargo ships and fishing vessels accounted for over 50% of all losses in 2014.