"Total losses are at historic low levels for the third year running," Captain Rahul Khanna, global head of marine risk consulting at AGCS, said in a release. "However, it is not all smooth sailing. The ongoing crew crisis, the increasing number of issues posed by larger vessels, growing concerns around supply chain delays and disruptions, as well as complying with environmental targets, bring significant risk management challenges for ship owners and their crews." (Credit: Avigator Thailand/Shutterstock.com)

Despite making gripping headlines, with grounded boats and lost cargo churning through news cycles, the number of shipping incidents declined around 4% year-on-year in 2020, according to Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS), which noted the total losses of vessels has dropped by 50% during the past decade.

While overall incidents dropped, events in certain regions ticked up. For example, 1 in 3 losses occurred in South China, Indochina, Indonesia and the Philippines, a region that saw a slight increase in incidents during 2020. The region was a major location of losses during the past decade as well, largely due to high levels of local and international trade, congested ports, busy shipping lanes, older fleets and extreme weather.

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Steve Hallo

Steve Hallo is managing editor of PropertyCasualty360.com. He can be reached at [email protected]

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