The Strategist

Study says Asia is the most dangerous region for navigation



06/19/2017 - 15:18



In 2016 the world fleet lost 85 large cargo and passenger ships. This is 16% less than a year earlier, according to the data of the subsidiary division of the insurance company Allianz. In most cases, ships sank in bad weather conditions. Some also suffered from fires and explosions on board or were so badly damaged in accidents that they had to be written off as scrap.



pixabay
pixabay
As the statistics show, Asia is the most dangerous region for navigation. In the Asian waters, there were six incidents in the top 10 in terms of total losses. More than a quarter of all the dead ships (23) are in the region, which includes South China, Indochina, Indonesia and the Philippines. Another 11 ships sank near the northern shores of China, Japan, and the Korean peninsula. On the second place by degree of danger - the eastern part of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea (15 ships). Along with bad weather, frequent maintenance and overload were frequent causes of losses. During the financial crisis many companies saved both on proper repairs and on qualified personnel.

Insurers note that, despite the overall decrease in losses, you should not relax. One of the reasons for concern, they call the appearance of mega-vessels. According to their calculations, the accident involving a giant container ship and a cruise liner can bring a record $ 4 billion in losses. Half of the costs will go to the rescue operation itself - there is practically no suitable equipment in the world. Another new threat is cyberattacking. In practice, interception of ship control by hackers so far occurred only on private yachts.  However, no one can guarantee that the next target will not be giant cargo ships.

source: insurancejournal.com