(www.MaritimeCyprus.com) The Canada Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has made available their report for maritime Accidents and Incidents for the year 2020.
Overview of accidents and casualties:
In 2020, 262 marine accidents were reported to the Canada TSB, down from the 2019 total of 267 and below the 10-year (2010–2019) average of 289. In 2020 the proportion of shipping accidents (as opposed to accidents aboard ship) was 84% of marine accidents, comparable to the previous 10-year average of 82%.
There were 219 shipping accidents in 2020, up from the 2019 total of 207 but down 8% from the 2010–2019 average of 238. The majority of shipping accidents involved fishing vessels (33%), followed by solid cargo vessels (26%).
Casualties:
In 2020, 18 marine fatalities were reported, up from the 17 fatalities reported in 2019, and above the annual average of 15.4 in the 2010–2019 time period. Of the 18 fatalities in 2020, 12 were the result of 4 shipping accidents, while the remaining 6 fatalities resulted from 5 accidents aboard ship.
Of note, all of the 12 shipping accident fatalities in 2020 involved commercial fishing vessels, and 4 of the 6 fatalities that ensued from accidents aboard ship occurred aboard commercial fishing vessels. These data indicate that more needs to be done to improve safety in the commercial fishing industry.
Serious injuries in 2020 totalled 41, down from 53 in 2019 and down from the annual average of 50 from 2010 to 2019. Thirty-nine of the 41 serious injuries (95%) resulted from accidents aboard ship, and the remaining 2 resulted from shipping accidents.
Shipping accidents:
The most frequent types of shipping accidents in 2020 were collision (43%), grounding (21%), and fire/explosion (16%). The total number of collisions (95) was 21% more than the 10-year (2010–2019) average of 79, the number of groundings (47) was 28% below the 10-year average of 65, and the number of fire/explosion accidents (36) was 4% below the 10-year average of 37.
Type of vessel:
Seventy-five fishing vessels were involved in shipping accidents, up from 59 in 2019, but down from the 2010–2019 average of 87. Fishing vessels represented almost one-third (30%) of all vessels involved in shipping accidents.
For more details and statistics, click below to download full report:
Source: Canada Transportation Safety Board (TSB)
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