CASUALTIES CLIMB

摘要

Some 1,639 maritime casualty incidents were reported during 2014, up 10%overthe year before when 1,489 incidents were reported. Industry analyst IHS believes this rise will embolden regulators to demand more thorough incident investigations and more stringent safety standards. Notably, there were significant upswings in incidents relating to hull and machinery damage, wrecking and stranding, ship-on-ship collisions and contact damage. Collisions alone were up almost one quarter (23%). Not surprisingly, the highest incidence was recorded in the hectic waters of the South China Sea.