Insurance multinational Allianz recently published its annual Safety & Shipping Review, providing a glimpse into how the global shipping industry has coped with different challenges and what lessons it has learned.
As highlighted by the review, the industry suffered several blows in the last 18 months, from the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent seafarer crisis to the Beirut port explosion and the incidents in the Suez Canal.
Despite the disruption caused by such events, shipping demonstrated its resilience and in some cases, the impact was more positive than expected, with the global number of lost ships declining by 50%, from 98 in 2011 to 49 in 2020.
In the last year, the number of shipping incidents has also declined from 2,818 to 2,703, highlighting a year-on-year decrease.
“The shipping sector has shown great resilience through the coronavirus pandemic, as evidenced by strong trade volumes and the recovery we are seeing in several parts of the industry today,” explains Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) global head of marine risk consulting Captain Rahul Khanna. “Total losses are at historic low levels for the third year running. 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.”