Survey Methodology


In each of the surveys conducted in 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2020 the WSC member companies were asked to report the number of containers lost overboard for the preceding three years. However, the winter of 2020-21 saw an unusually high number of incidents. Although so far in 2022 there have been few incidents involving containers lost at sea, the industry is deeply concerned about this development.


WSC is therefore, in addition to other measures described in this report such as the TopTier project, increasing the frequency of updates to its Containers Lost at Sea report. Hence, this update covers 2020-2021 and, going forward, a survey will be carried out each year.


Up to date data on the number of containers lost at sea is important for the work under way to increase safety and help guide the need for any additional initiatives by WSC, governments and other parties.


For the 2022 update, members were asked to report on losses for 2020 and 2021. All WSC member companies responded and together they represent approximately 80% of the total global vessel container capacity deployed at the time of the survey. WSC assumes for the purpose


of its analysis that the container losses for the 20% of the industry’s capacity that is operated by carriers that did not participate in the survey would be roughly comparable to the losses reported by the responding carriers representing 80% of the industry’s capacity.


The total annual figure reported by WSC members is adjusted upward to provide an estimated loss figure for all carriers, both WSC members and non-members, to arrive at an estimate of total containers lost. As expected, some carriers lost no containers during the period, while others experienced a significant incident where hundreds of containers were lost in a single event.


There are more than 6,300 ships carrying containers around the world at any point in time. All containers lost at sea represent safety and environmental hazards regardless of how and when those containers were lost. Accordingly, the 2022 Update to the Containers Lost at Sea Survey includes the total number of containers lost at sea, regardless of how they were lost.


We continue to work with governments and other interested stakeholders to identify losses, their causes, and actionable solutions to reduce the losses in the future.


Analysis of the Fourteen-Year Trends


Analysis of the Fourteen-Year Trends


6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Total Loss


Reviewing the results of the fourteen-year period (2008- 2021) surveyed, the WSC estimates that there were on average a total of 1,629 containers lost at sea each year, which is a significant increase (18%) to the average annual


100 | The Report • September 2022 • Issue 101 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 3 Year Moving Average


with that, the three-year average annual loss for the pe- riod was 1,390, about half that of the previous period. The downward trend continued into 2017-2019 when the 3-year average annual loss was almost halved again to


2018 2019 2020 2021 Summary of Containers Lost at Sea


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