In 2026, the international community marks the twentieth anniversary of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006)—a landmark treaty establishing global standards for decent work, safety at sea and the protection of seafarers. By promoting better working and living conditions on board ships, the MLC contributes to safer maritime operations.
Despite this progress, serious challenges remain. Seafarers continue to face high risks, including fatalities resulting from occupational accidents and other causes. This milestone offers an opportunity to reflect on one of the most critical issues in maritime transport: deaths at sea.
Why monitoring seafarers’ deaths matters
Shipping carries around 90 per cent of global trade and employs nearly two million seafarers, often working in demanding and high-risk environments far from home. Monitoring fatalities is therefore essential to:
- assess occupational safety and health risks;
- identify priorities for prevention;
- evaluate the impact of international labour standards, including the MLC, 2006; and
- strengthen accountability and improve working conditions.
Reliable and comparable data are essential for understanding the risks faced by those working at sea and for designing effective prevention measures.
The establishment of a global register of deaths at sea under the MLC marks an important step forward. While no comprehensive global database yet captures all causes of seafarer deaths, an experimental data collection was conducted in 2024, followed by the first official data collection in 2025. Detailed reports containing an analysis of reported seafarer deaths by cause and an assessment of data coverage are disseminated in:
What do reported data for 2024 show?
Data reported for 2024 by 66 countries, covering 449 deaths, reveal useful insights into key characteristics and emerging patterns of seafarers’ deaths at sea:
- Health-related causes account for the largest share of reported deaths (245 deaths)-. In many cases, deaths occur due to sudden illness, including cardiovascular events. Limited access to immediate medical care at sea and delays in evacuation can exacerbate health risks.
- Fatalities resulting from occupational accidents accounted for 86 deaths. These fatalities occur mainly during on-board operations such as cargo handling, maintenance work, mooring operations, or as a result of slips, trips and falls.
- Persons overboard (36 cases) and suicides (26 cases) highlight concerns related not only to safety procedures but also to fatigue, mental health and psychosocial risks — issues that have gained increasing attention in recent years.
- Additional cases include other causes (13 cases) and cases under investigation (14 cases).
Further patterns include:
By sex
Over 98 per cent of fatalities involved male seafarers, reflecting the gender composition of the maritime workforce.
By rank
Ratings accounted for 44 per cent of reported deaths by rank. The share of deaths due to occupational accidents was higher among ratings than among officers and other ranks. The share of suicides was also higher among ratings.
By department
Nearly half of deaths involved deck department personnel, followed by the engine department (about one-third) and catering department (around 10 per cent). The proportion of occupational accident-related deaths was higher among deck personnel, while health-related deaths represented a larger share among engine department personnel. The proportion of suicide cases was higher among catering personnel, although the total number of cases was limited.
By age
The majority of deaths (85 per cent) involved seafarers aged 30 years and above, although younger seafarers represented a larger share of deaths due to occupational accidents and persons overboard.
By ship characteristic
Looking at ship type, over 30 per cent of deaths occurred on bulk carriers. In terms of ship size, around 60 per cent of deaths occurred on large and very large vessels, 31 per cent occurred on medium-sized vessels and 9 per cent on small vessels. Finally, with regards to ship location, around 60 per cent of deaths occurred at sea, with a smaller share (20 per cent) reported in ports. Fatalities resulting from occupational accidents represented a slightly higher share of deaths in port locations.
Important data gaps
While the available data provide valuable insights, important limitations remain. Responses were received from 74 countries, of which 66 provided data. Several countries indicated that no ships fly their national flag or that no data were available. In addition, some countries provided only partial metadata on the coverage of seafarers and the types of deaths included in their statistics.
Data comparability challenges
One of the main challenges for data comparability is due to differences in cause-of-death reporting. Not all countries report deaths disaggregated by cause. Consequently, total figures do not always correspond to the sum of individual categories, which further complicates analysis.
There are also notable differences in the types of deaths covered:
- 83 per cent of countries cover fatalities resulting from occupational accidents
- 76 per cent of countries cover health-related deaths
- 71 per cent of countries cover persons overboard
- 59 per cent of countries cover suicides
These differences affect international comparability and may lead to underestimation of the total number of deaths.
Coverage of seafarer categories also varies. Deaths among certain categories of seafarers, such as ratings, are more consistently reported than deaths among other ranks. In some cases, information on which crew categories are included is incomplete or missing. As a result, the representativeness of the data may be limited, and caution is required when comparing figures across countries.
Moreover, there are differences in recording fatalities resulting from occupational accidents. Countries apply different time limits when recording fatalities resulting from occupational accidents. In many reporting countries, only deaths occurring on the day of the accident are included. A smaller group of countries include fatalities that occur days, months or even up to one year later if they are linked to the original incident. These differences can lead to underreporting in some contexts and make cross-country comparisons more difficult.
Further comparability challenges arise from differences in the coverage of ship types and vessel size across countries. These variations reflect differences in national recording systems and fleet composition, and in some cases are compounded by limited administrative capacity and fragmented reporting arrangements.
Improving global reporting remains a priority
The first official global data collection provides valuable insights into the distribution of fatal incidents at sea. However, important gaps remain in availability and comparability of statistics. Not all countries currently report deaths across all causes, and the level of detail provided varies significantly between reporting authorities. In many cases, countries report only the total number of deaths, without detailed breakdowns by age, rank, department, or ship characteristics.
Strengthening national reporting systems and promoting more standardized statistical practices will therefore be essential for building a comprehensive global evidence base. Expanding country participation, improving guidance on data collection, and enhancing cooperation among national authorities will help improve both the coverage and quality of the data.
Improving data is not only a technical exercise—it is a necessary step toward safer and healthier working conditions for seafarers worldwide.
Concepts and definitions
Seafarers deaths: Seafarers deaths include fatalities resulting from occupational accidents and other accidents related to ship operations, as well as deaths resulting from illness/disease, suicide, person overboard, etc. Definitions of these types of deaths are as follows:
- Illness/disease: Death resulting from illness/disease is any death of a seafarer resulting from any illness or disease that is not the result of an occupational injury. Includes deaths where the death is a natural progression from aging.
- Person overboard (presumed deceased): Any loss of a seafarer resulting from unintentional departure from the ship into the water where there is no direct proof of the person’s death, such as the finding of remains attributable to that person (e.g., a corpse or skeleton).
- Occupational injury: Any death of a seafarer resulting from an occupational accident. Occupational accident is an unexpected and unplanned event, including acts of violence, arising out of or in connection with work (i.e. while engaged in an activity, during the time spent at work or carrying on the business of the employer) resulting in personal injury, disease or death of one or more workers. It includes an occupational injury leading to death within one year of the day of the occupational accident.
- Suicide: Any death of a seafarer on board where the death is resulting from a self-inflicted injuries with evidence of intent to die.
- Other: Includes deaths of a seafarer resulting from events of undetermined intent ( e.g. poisoning, alcohol, accidental overdose of drug, wrong drug/medicaments given or taken in error).
