Insurance Company Allianz Records 43 Total Ship Losses in 2025, Down from 79 the Previous Year

Maritime transport closed 2025 with 43 total losses of ships over 100 GT, according to the Safety and Shipping Review 2026 report by Allianz Commercial, compiled using data from Lloyd’s List Intelligence. This figure represents 36 fewer ships than in 2024, when 79 losses were recorded, a decrease of approximately 46%. For ships over 500 GT, losses fell from 51 in 2024 to 31 in 2025.

The main cause of total losses in 2025 was sinkings, with 19 cases, down from 32 in 2024. Fires and explosions decreased from 16 recorded in 2024 to nine in 2025; groundings fell from 14 to 4; collisions decreased from 4 to 3; and machinery damage or failures remained at eight cases. By ship type, the highest figures for 2025 were for fishing vessels, with eight losses; followed by passenger ships, with seven; bulk carriers, with six; and general cargo ships, container ships, and ro-ro vessels, each with five total losses.

The number of maritime incidents also decreased. Allianz's report recorded 2,818 events in 2025, down from 3,353 in 2024, a reduction of 535, or 16%. The region with the most recorded incidents was the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, with 622; followed by the British Isles, the North Sea, the English Channel, and the Bay of Biscay, with 619. The main cause was machinery damage or failures, with 1,505 incidents, accounting for 53% of the total. Following were collisions, with 260, and fires or explosions, with 218, down from 255 in 2024.

In the last decade, Allianz's report records 905 total losses of ships over 100 GT. Between 2016 and 2020, there were 555, an average of 111 per year; between 2021 and 2025, 350, an average of 70, representing a 37% decrease between the two periods. The area with the most losses in the decade was the South China Sea, Indochina, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with 255. The total accumulated incidents between 2016 and 2025 was 28,660.

The Allianz report on maritime transport safety also notes “a transition towards a new maritime order,” characterized by increasing security risks along strategic maritime corridors, disruption of established trade routes, geopolitical uncertainty, and rising risk premiums.

The blockage of the Strait of Hormuz due to the war with Iran has reduced transits to and from the Persian Gulf from over a hundred ships daily to fewer than five at times. In May 2026, more than 1,500 ships and 20,000 sailors were reported trapped.

As of June 15, Allianz estimated that about 1,150 cargo ships, with 29 million GT, were operating in Persian Gulf waters, with a combined value of ships and cargo of about $125 billion. The most recent figures from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) following the departure of ships in the last two weeks amount to around 6,000 sailors and “hundreds of ships.”

Photo: Boskalis