Web Alert: INTERCARGO Bulk Carrier Casualty Report 2005-2015

INTERCARGO, the International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners, recently submitted their Bulk Carrier Casualty Report on the years 2005-2015 to the 3rd session of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) subcommittee on Implementation of IMO Instruments (III 3). The report’s key purpose is to raise the subcommittee’s awareness of the issue of flag state compliance with the IMO requirement of making casualty investigation reports available through IMO systems. This is highlighted by the fact that of the 71 bulk carriers lost during this period, only 24 had investigation reports made available to the IMO, representing only 33.8% of identified casualties. The average time between the date of the incident and the date of the posting of the casualty report was approximately 20 months.

This report details the trends and availability of casualty investigation reports as well as breaking down total losses by cause, bulk carrier size, age, and dead weight tonnage (dwt).  Alongside such points as having 71 bulk carriers and 255 seafarers lost during that period, the report highlights that industry concerns over cargo shift and liquefaction have risen dramatically to become one of the greatest concerns for the safe carriage of dry bulk over the past 10 years. The transport of nickel ore cargoes remains of particular concern. INTERCARGO’s report also points out that ship losses due to structural failure have decreased over the same period, pointing out that enhanced design standard and monitoring having a positive effect on shipping.

A copy of the Bulk Carrier Casualty Report is available here on INTERCARGO’s website.