The Annual Overview of Marine Casualties and Incidents is a high-level analysis of accidents reported by the EU member states.
The report covers the years 2011 to 2014 and includes 9,180 occurrences. Over that time, over 390 people lost their lives and 3,250 were injured. Around two thirds of the total occurrences directly involved damage to a ship while one third was about accidents to people on board.
While the majority of ships that sank were fishing vessels, cargo ships represented 44 percent of all ships involved. Over 60 percent accidents were attributed to human error.
The number of very serious casualties has risen from 81 in 2013 to 99 in 2014, and is expected to be similar in 2015.
