What do you think? Too much? Or pretty good record for 226 million packed and empty containers currently shipped each year?
The World Shipping Council (WSC) has submitted a document to an IMO Sub-Committee on the loss of containers at sea, a hot topic on the IMO’s list of popular issues this year.
According to WSC estimates:
- 226 millions containers were carried by sea in 2019;
- 12 years of data shows a yearly average of 1 382 containers lost at sea;
- some years were worst than others, i.e. 2013 with the loss of MOL Comfort.
It should be noted that WSC has discarded previous distinction between loss due to ‘catastrophic‘ or ‘non-catastrophic‘ events as deemed confusing and prone to misinterpretation.
Industry and key States are expected to rally around a series of measures to enhance container safety, based on changes to existing IMO instruments (SOLAS; CTU Code) and new requirements (mandatory reporting of containers lost at sea).
Infographic here :
Full details in WSC submission to the IMO, reference CCC 7/14/2, 10 July 2020.