A sharp rise in major marine insurance claims involving older vessels should be seen as a warning sign for the industry, with ShipIn Systems arguing the trend reflects growing operational risk onboard ageing ships rather than insurance market conditions alone.

New data from Nordic marine insurers’ association, Cefor, shows a significant increase in claims above $10m, driven primarily by machinery damage and fire. As part of its own analysis of ten years of casualty data from vessel fleet tracking software, SeaSearcher, ShipIn has analysed what is causing this increase in claims, pointing to a clear deterioration in outcomes as vessels age.

Fire, rather than machinery damage, emerges as the more dangerous of the two main loss drivers identified. On vessels more than 25 years old, a fire results in a total loss in around one in eight cases and is closer to one in 30 on vessels under 20 years old. Over the ten-year period analysed, fire incidents involving older vessels also tripled.

ShipIn Systems says the data also supports the view that serious casualties are often the result of smaller problems building up over time rather than one isolated failure. Its analysis found the same machinery failure is six times more likely to destroy a vessel over 25 years old than one under 20, suggesting that age increases not only the likelihood of technical weakness, but the severity of the outcome when standards slip or warning signs are missed.

Osher Perry, CEO of ShipIn Systems, said: “Cefor’s figures show the market impact, but our own research into casualty analysis helps explain what is actually driving it. The issue is not vessel age on its own. It is whether owners and managers have enough visibility of onboard conditions and day-to-day execution to detect where risk is building before it becomes a safety, compliance or financial loss. As fleets age, that visibility becomes more critical because the consequences of missing early warning signs become much more severe.”

ShipIn Systems says the findings reinforce the need for stronger operational visibility across ageing fleets, particularly as technical stress, maintenance pressure and procedural drift become harder to manage through traditional oversight alone. In its view, the industry is now dealing with a fleet that has aged materially in a relatively short period, making it more important for owners and managers to identify weak execution and emerging risk before they appear in a casualty report, detention or major claim.