Safest year for shipping in 10 years

THE statistics indicate some good news on ship safety. Shipping losses continued on a long-term downward trend last year with 75 reported worldwide, making 2014 the safest year for shipping in 10 years, according to insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).

Except of course that on April 16 last year the South Korean ferry Sewol overturned and sank with the the loss of 302 lives. As AGCS itself puts it, "while the long-term downward trend in shipping losses is encouraging, recent casualties such as the Sewol and the Norman Atlantic have once again raised significant concerns over training and emergency preparedness on passenger ships three years after the Costa Concordia disaster". It notes that seven passenger ships were lost during 2014, accounting for almost 10 per cent of total losses.

The good news is that losses declined by 32 per cent compared with the previous year and were well below the 10-year loss average of 127. Since 2005 shipping losses have declined by 50 per cent. More than a third of 2014's total losses were in two maritime regions. South China, Indo China, Indonesia and the Philippines (17 ships) and Japan, Korea and North China (12 ships). Cargo and fishing vessels accounted for over 50 per cent of all losses.