Collisions have been the second most common cause of shipping incidents in recent years, according to Allianz. Last year alone, 280 collision accidents involving larger ships were reported, Allianz’s industrial insurer said Tuesday. In 2022, they accounted for about one in ten of the more than 3,000 shipping incidents reported worldwide, making them the second most common cause of such incidents after engine damage or failure.

Looking at the past ten years, from 2013 to the end of 2022, nearly 3100 collision incidents involving ships were reported, according to the data. Even in this longer period, collisions were thus the second most common cause of ship casualties worldwide, after engine damage or failure, it said.

“Total losses of ships after a collision are fortunately rare,” it added. Four such cases were reported last year and 30 in the past decade, it said.

The alliance cited “human error and engine, equipment and motor damage” as the most common causes of ship collisions. In addition, poor weather conditions could contribute to ship-to-shore collisions.

Source: dpa-AFX