Fatalities 80Enclosed Space Fatalities 2000-2024 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Year
Taking a closer look at enclosed space fatalities aboard tankers
Tanker crew members are most at risk during tank cleaning operations, when over 45% of all fatalities occurred, mainly due to explosions. Shore workers are most at risk during shipyard repair work, with 25% of fatalities. Small coastal tankers are the highest risk vessel type. More detailed numbers are as follows:
- Cargo and non-cargo-related: 249 fatalities were liquid bulk cargo-related, of which 233 were crew members and 16 were shore workers. Of the 153 non- cargo-related fatalities, 62 were crew and 91 were shore workers.
- Ship/shore: 295 (73%) were crew members and 107 (27%) were shore workers.
- Causes: 250 (62%) fatalities were due to explosions and fires, 120 were due to asphyxiation/toxic gas poisoning, and 32 were due to falls and struck-by accidents.
- In port/at sea/in shipyards: 154 fatalities on tankers occurred at sea, 131 in port, 99 on tankers in shipyards and drydocks, 18 N/A. Almost all the fatalities
at sea occurred during tank cleaning operations.
- Locations on board: 249 (62%) of deaths occurred in cargo tanks and accesses, with 38 on deck, 30 in ballast, bunker and slop tanks, 18 in forecastle workspaces and electrical switch rooms, 11 in pumprooms, 5 in compressor rooms, and the rest in other spaces.
- Activities: of the 249 cargo- related fatalities, 181 (80%) occurred in cargo tanks during tank cleaning and inspection operations. The remainder occurred mainly during maintenance work, hot work and recovery of fallen objects from cargo tanks.
- Of the 153 non-cargo-related fatalities, almost all occurred during repair and maintenance activities, hot work and routine inspections. Of the 99 fatalities in shipyards 68 occurred in cargo tanks.
- Ship sizes: of 338 fatalities on tankers where the ship size was reported, 109 occurred on coastal tankers, 55 on small tankers, 83 on medium sizes, 57 on large and 34 on very large tankers.
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 Vistrato 2025 Causes of fatalities
Analysis of enclosed space fatalities shows that 466 (46%) of all deaths were caused by asphyxiation due to oxygen depletion and/or toxic gas poisoning, 364 (36%) resulted from explosions and/or fires, and 180 (18%) were due to physical hazards, with over half of these linked to falls.
Furthermore, on tankers, explosions and fires from flammable atmospheres were the leading cause of the 402 enclosed space fatalities (64%), followed by asphyxiation/ toxic gas (31%) and physical hazards (5%). For bulk carriers, asphyxiation/toxic gas accounted for the majority of the 308 deaths (65%), followed by physical hazards (24%) and explosion/fire (11%).
Across all other ship types, asphyxiation/toxic gas was also the primary cause (48%), with physical hazards responsible for 28% and explosions/fires for 24% of the 300 fatalities.
THE REPORT | MAR 2026 | ISSUE 115 | 143 2 3 4
Fatalities
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