Curated, structured indicators across safety, security, economics, and environment to support pleadings, expert reports, risk assessments, and policy briefs. Each figure is traceable to a public authority or widely cited industry report.
Key highlights
Sources: EMSA; ICC-IMB; IUMI; ICS/industry estimates. See section notes for links and scope.
Safety & Accidents
Core indicators on casualties and incidents. Use in liability analysis, due diligence, or safety casework.
EU marine casualties & incidents
Incident counts recorded by European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).
| Year | Incidents | Lives lost (cumulative 2014–2023) |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2,676 | 650 |
| 2021 | 2,742 | — |
Note: Annual overviews compiled from EMSA reports.
Marine accidents and vessels involved
Illustrative series compiled from national safety agencies and industry abstracts.
| Year | Total accidents | Vessels involved |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 841 | 1,148 |
| 2020 | 704 | 952 |
| 2021 | 747 | 1,005 |
| 2022 | 705 | 951 |
| 2023 | 660 | 872 |
| 2024 | 598 | 773 |
Scope: Aggregated indicators from selected national and regional reports; figures are rounded.
Piracy & Security
Use these statistics for charterparty risk clauses, routing, war risk premiums, and crew safety assessments.
Global piracy incidents
| Year | Incidents | Vessels boarded | Vessels hijacked |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 115 | — | — |
| 2023 | 120 | — | — |
| 2024 | 116 | 94 | 6 |
Source: ICC-IMB annual reports and updates.
Crew impact (selected years)
| Year | Crew taken hostage | Crew kidnapped |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 41 | 2 |
| 2023 | 73 | 14 |
| 2024 | 126 | 12 |
Source: ICC-IMB situation reports.
Economic Impact
Figures used frequently in policy advocacy, litigation damages, and impact assessments.
Industry synthesis (commonly cited by ICS and trade bodies).
Trade and port statistics compilations.
IUMI; sector economic studies (S&P Global for US liner shipping impact).
Marine Pollution
Environmental baselines relevant to compliance, liability, and policy design.
Global plastics in the ocean
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Plastic items in oceans | 5.25 trillion pieces |
| Plastic mass | 269,000 tons |
| Annual input | 8 million tons/year |
Environmental compilations based on widely cited studies and dashboards.
Other pressures
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Ballast water transported | 12 billion tons/year |
| Agriculture runoff share | ~80% of marine pollution |
| European seas “problem areas” | ~80% |
EEA and regional environmental reporting syntheses.