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Shipping has seen a significant improvement in safety over the past decade as higher standards of ship construction and operation have cut the number of casualties, but emerging risks from new fuels and digital technologies must be mitigated to maintain progress, according to DNV.

It follows the release of a new analysis, ‘Maritime Safety 2012-2021: a decade of progress’, from Lloyd’s List Intelligence and DNV that shows a marked decline in casualties, losses and detentions over the period.

Between 2012 and 2021, the tally of annual casualties declined 20 per cent from 1922 to 1537 and losses resulting from casualties dropped 56 per cent from 132 in 2012 to 58 in 2020, while the number of detentions decreased by 60 per cent by the end of 2020 – mostly in the general cargo carrier segment.

This positive trend has come even as the global fleet has increased 46 per cent in deadweight tonnes and 16 per cent in vessel numbers - from 116,000 to more than 130,000 ships of 100 gross tonnes and above - resulting in the number of safety incidents, as a share of the fleet, falling from nearly 5 per cent to 2 per cent.

“Measures such as digitised systems, modern class rules, better vessels, tighter regulatory supervision and, crucially, an improved safety culture have contributed to this welcome safety trend,” said Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO of DNV Maritime.