Marine Accident Frequencies – Review and Recent Empirical Results

Marine accident frequencies reported in 20 different sources have been studied and compared. Further than this, comparisons were made with an analysis done by the present authors. There seems to be consistency within the sources in the use of the terms total loss, casualty and accident/incident. The rates were observed to decrease by an order of magnitude going from accident/incident to casualty and likewise from casualty to total loss. The overall frequencies were found to be in the range of 0·0009 to 0·07 total losses per 106 ship miles, 0·03 to 1 casualties per 106 ship miles, and 0·5 to 13 accidents/incidents per 106 ship miles. It was found that the frequency depends on visibility, brightness, geographical environment, age of vessel and size of vessel. Collision and grounding frequencies were found to increase with decreasing visibility, brightness and more restricted waters. Collision frequencies were found to increase with increasing size of vessel. Fire/explosion and structural damage frequencies were found to increase with increasing age, and collisions to decrease with increasing age. No firm trend was found from the effect of flag state or type of vessel.