Vessel losses rampant in PH

The Philippines was among the hot spots where ships weighing over 100 gross tonnage were lost last year due to fire, machinery damage and extreme weather conditions, according to a global corporate insurance carrier.

In its recent “Safety and Shipping Review 2022” report, Alliance Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) said that one in five vessel losses occurred in the Philippines, South China, Indochina and Indonesia in 2021.

The financial institution noted that 54 vessels across the world had been lost last year, less than 65 lost in 2020 because of better ship designs and safety measures implemented.

Majority or 60 percent of the total losses were due to ships sinking, followed by fire or explosion (15 percent) and machinery damage (11 percent). In at least 13 cases last year, meanwhile, extreme weather was cited as the reason.

In the past decade, AGCS noted that total vessel losses had reached 892.

“Fires on board large vessels remain the top issue for the shipping industry. We continue to see major incidents involving fires on large container ships, and now the emphasis is also shifting to car carriers and Ro-Ro (roll-on, roll-off) vessels,” said Rahul Khanna, global head of marine risk consulting at AGCS.

AGCS senior marine risk consultant Rand Lund added that “fires need to be contained quickly, yet it may take several hours to get to the base of a fire on a container ship with as many as 20,000 containers on board, stacked ten high.” While there were fewer vessel losses last year, AGCS expressed concerns over the impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine on the maritime industry.

“Trade with Russia and Ukraine will suffer, adding to already strained global supply chains. Longer term, sanctions and a reduction in trade with Russia, could result in the redrawing of some supply chains and trade routes, but this all takes time and comes at a cost,” Khanna explained.

On top of this, the crisis has pushed fuel prices higher.

Nitin Chopra, senior marine risk consultant at AGCS, also said “hundreds of thousands of seafarers were unable to leave their vessels or see their families for a prolonged period.”

As such, Khanna explained that seafarers’ morale was found to be “low” at the moment as the pandemic was taking its toll on their mental health. INQ