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The maritime industry has seen a decrease in total losses of
ships over the past five years (see figure below), attributed by
many in the industry to increased safety measures and updates in
technological systems, according to the inaugural State of Maritime Safety
report published by IHS Markit and available for download.
Despite the growth of the world fleet by 8.5% between 2015 and
2019, total loss incidents have decreased from 0.16% of ships of
the total world fleet involved in 2015 to 0.09% in 2019. Total loss
by gross tonnage has largely remained constant, even with
increasing vessel sizes. The total loss of world fleet gt in 2015
was 0.05% (644,284 gt of a total world fleet of 1,211,223,165 gt),
which then increased to 0.07% in 2017 (914,322 gt of a total world
fleet of 1,293,947,838 gt) before decreasing to 0.06% in 2019
(774,045 gt of a total world fleet of 1,390,332,982 gt).
Total loss by casualty type
The primary cause of total losses during 2015-19 for all vessel
sectors is foundering. Given the rise in extreme weather conditions
and ongoing concerns regarding the rising costs of repair and
upkeep for machinery and hull damage, it is possible to view the
low total loss numbers as a positive sign that current industry
measures are working. However, with profit margins still recovering
from the 2008 and 2016 economic downturns, the maritime industry is
seeing preventable incidents turn into tragedies.
For example, in January 2015, 31-year-old cargo ship
Cemfjord capsized while fully laden under extreme sea
conditions in the Pentland Firth between Orkney and the Scottish
mainland, killing all eight crew members. The UK Marine Accident
Investigation Branch (MAIB) released a report in April 2016 noting
that the incident was entirely avoidable and likely occurred due to
commercial pressure to continue sailing during that time.
Furthermore, the vessel capsized so rapidly that the crew were
unable to send out a distress call or conduct a controlled
abandonment of the vessel. This suggests that industry's approach
to casualty and total loss causes must focus on crew emergency
training, infrastructure, and prevent commercial pressures
overriding a focus on safety.
During a
September 2019 IHS Markit roundtable on the State of Maritime
Safety data, Peter Hoffman, the head of section for Safety Risk and
Reliability at DNV GL, noted key safety lessons for the industry
take too long to be learnt as it can take more than a year for
accident reports to be shared.
This is in stark comparison to other transport sectors such as
aviation. Hoffman noted how quickly safety issues and lessons are
made public, for example, the two deadly crashes of Boeing 747 Max
in 2018 and 2019 that led to a mass grounding of the plane
model.
A 2019 paper in Maritime Policy by Rolf Yohan Bye and
Petter G Almklov, titled 'Normalization of maritime accident data
using AIS' made a case for how the Automatic Identification System
(AIS), usually used on vessels to monitor ships in real time, could
be used to normalise accident statistics and consider maritime
accident rates. It could also act as evidence to chart maritime
accident trends with precision and potentially shorten the time to
produce formal accident reports.
While the November 2015 incident of the 40-year-old cargo ship
El Faro that sank during Hurricane Joaquin has been
largely attributed to the error made by the ship's master for
sailing into the path of the storm, the US National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB) noted in its 2018 report that the condition of
the vessel and its lack of appropriate lifeboats were contributing
factors.
This suggests not only that there needs to be an increased focus
on crew training, but that vessel maintenance remains essential to
lowering crew deaths and total loss numbers.
The State of Maritime Safety report
The report offers IHS Markit data-led insight into contemporary
risks and concerns, and highlights problem areas that need more
attention and safety solutions from the maritime industry.
