HELCOM report shows a 12% increase in ship accidents in the Baltic

Helsinki, 12 June (HELCOM Information Service) – As there are more and more cargo ships, tankers, and ferries plying the waters of the Baltic Sea every year, the number of accidents at sea has gone up again, especially in such a busy traffic area like the Danish Straits, according to the latest HELCOM study. But the occurrence of ship-to-ship collisions, one of the most serious types of accidents at sea, remains at the same level.

Analysis of the data contained in the latest annual reports provided by the Member States to HELCOM reveals that overall there was a total of 135 ship accidents in the Baltic marine area in 2008, which is 15 more than the year before (12.5% increase) and 18 more than in 2006 (15% increase).  “The rising number of accidents could be explained by a 20% increase in ship traffic between 2006 and 2008,” says Monika Stankiewicz, Professional Secretary for maritime and response to oil accidents issues at HELCOM.

Almost all accidents occurred very close to shore or in harbours. The most common type was grounding accounting for almost a half of all reported cases (60 accidents or 44%). “This was actually the largest number since 2004, when 57 similar cases were recorded. On the other hand, 80% of these groundings occurred with small vessels having a draught of less than 7 m,” says Stankiewicz.  Collisions became the second most frequent type of shipping accidents in the Baltic - 41 cases (30%), compared to 40 cases (33%) in the previous year. This includes collisions with vessels, fixed or floating structures, e.g. peers, navigation signs etc. There were only 17 ship-to-ship collisions, and this number has almost halved since 2005-2006, whereas the number of collisions with objects has remained largely unchanged. “The launch of the HELCOM Automatic Identification System (AIS) in 2005, traffic separation schemes and ship reporting systems introduced in the Baltic, e.g. Gulf of Finland Reporting System (GOFREP), have had a positive effect on the safety of navigation and might have contributed to the reduced number of collisions over the recent years,” explains Stankiewicz.

Spatially collisions are accumulated in approaches to ports and the Danish Straits. No clear trend can be observed for collisions in the south-western Baltic Sea, including the Danish Straits as the number of cases varies from year to year. Although there were two more collisions reported in the Gulf of Finland during 2008 than 2007, the number of incidents still remains dramatically lower than before 2006.

According to the 2000-2008 data, 7% of the reported accidents ended up with some kind of pollution. In 2008, this percentage was the same, with nine out of the total 135 reported accidents resulting in pollution. One of these incidents was related to a collision, whereas the rest were pollution incidents occurring e.g. during fuel transfer. Vessels involved in pollution accidents in 2008 were three cargo ships, two tankers and five other vessels.

Cargo vessels are the main group of ships involved in the total number of accidents (45%), followed by passenger vessels (18%) and tankers (10%). This proportion more or less reflects the amount of different vessel types making up the Baltic Sea traffic in 2008, except for passenger ships for which a higher risk can be observed - passenger ships made up 11% of the overall traffic while their share in accidents was as much as 20%.

Human factor was the main cause of accidents in almost half (47%) of the incidents reported in 2008. External and technical factors were the reason for 18% and 13% of accidents, respectively.

The Baltic Sea today is one of the busiest seas in the world, accounting for up to 15% of the world’s cargo transportation. According to the AIS data, around 60,000 ships were plying the waters of the Baltic Sea last year. Approximately 46% of these ships were cargo vessels, 14% were tankers and 11% were passenger ships. There are about 2,000 ships in the Baltic marine area at any given moment, and each month around 3,500-5,000 ships ply the waters of the Baltic. Forecasts indicate that due to economic growth, especially in the eastern part of the region, the maritime transport in the Baltic is expected to grow by 64% between 2003 and 2020. The amount of cargo shipped on the Baltic reached 826 million tonnes in 2007, with the fastest annual growth taking place in Russia. The transportation of oil and other potentially hazardous cargoes is growing steeply and steadily. By 2015 a 40% increase is expected in the amounts of oil being shipped on the Baltic, which currently stand at 170 million tonnes of oil a year. The use of much bigger tankers is also expected to rise – there will be more tankers in the Baltic carrying 100,000-150,000 tonnes of oil.

Follow-up:

HELCOM report on shipping accidents in 2008: http://www.helcom.fi/stc/files/shipping/shipping_accidents_2008.pdf

Note to Editors:

The Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution through intergovernmental co-operation between the countries bordering the sea - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and also the European Community.  

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," more usually known as the Helsinki Convention.

For more information, please contact:

Ms. Monika Stankiewicz

Professional Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)207 412 643

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: monika.stankiewicz@helcom.fi

Mr. Nikolay Vlasov

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)207 412 635

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: nikolay.vlasov@helcom.fi