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Last Year, 77.5% of Maritime Accidents Were Concentrated in Waters Where Ship Traffic Volume Increased

WriterMaritime Transportation Policy Office
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Date2026-04-28 16:07:18
ContentLast Year, 77.5% of Maritime Accidents Were Concentrated in Waters Where Ship Traffic Volume Increased - The average traffic volume of waters where maritime accidents occur is 92.3 times higher than that of waters without accidents. - Even though cases of deaths and missing persons decreased, the risk for safety accidents still remains: Minor failures can lead to large-scale accidents in worsening weather conditions. - AI-based predictions and alerts help stop safety accidents and reinforce collision prevention efforts in crowded waters. Maritime accident statistics used in this article are the result of KOMSA’s independent analysis using the Maritime Transportation Safety Information System (MTIS), whose operation was entrusted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) to the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority (KOMSA), based on the statistics of the Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal of MOF. <Summary> ◇ Casualties from capsizing and sinking are concentrated in February and March when the weather frequently deteriorates, such as wind wave watches. • Over the past decade (2015-2024), the severity level* of capsizing and sinking was the highest in February and March. • In some months, there was a repetition of cases that inflicted relatively heavy casualties, considering the number of ship involved in the accidents, and the severity level stood at a maximum of 460. * A value that is obtained by dividing casualty figures from capsizing and sinking by the number of ships involved in the accidents and multiplying 100 to turn the result into an index. (casualty figures/the number of ships involved in the accidents x 100). Case example: In February 2025, due to capsizing, 15 people died and went missing, which showed that casualties were concentrated in a short period of time. ◇ Last year, 77.5% of maritime accidents were concentrated in waters where ship traffic volume increased*. * This is based on ocean grid four-level spatial information of the MOF, which divides ocean space into a unit of a 2.3km by 2.8km grid. • 77.5% of maritime accidents last year occurred in waters where ship traffic volume rose. • Ship traffic volume in waters with accidents is almost 92.3 times higher than that of waters without accidents. • Ship traffic volume in waters around Korea increased by 9.7% last year compared to the previous year. • In particular, the volume grew by 10.5% in the country’s territorial waters, where there is a heavy volume of small-sized ship traffic, including fishing vessels. • In June and August, when monthly traffic significantly rose, cases of collision and minor collision grew by 35.6% year-on-year over the past two years. ◇ 89.6% of ships involved in accidents had “risk factors prior to the accidents,” and one of the major factors was cargo. • Over the past ten years (2015-2024), 89.6% of ships involved in accidents had risk factors even before the accident. • Cargo was the most frequently found risk factor, the second was reckless and careless operation in the midst of deteriorating weather, and the third was damage to and poor management of ships and equipment. ◇ As fatal accidents decreased last year, so did casualties. The “severity level of maritime accidents” fell year-on-year. •The number of deaths and missing persons from maritime accidents was 137 last year, which was a 16.5% decrease from 164 in the previous year. • The severity level of maritime accidents* in 2025 was 3.6%, which declined compared to 4.6% in the previous year. The figure returned to the recent 5-year average of 3.6%. * A value that is obtained by dividing casualty figures by the number of ships involved in accidents and multiplying 100 to turn the result into an index. (casualty figures/the number of ships involved in accidents x 100). • However, deaths and missing are still concentrated on safety incidents on the site of fishing operations, including falling overboard and struck by objects, such as fishing gear. ◇ Seven out of ten ships involved in accidents experienced these tragedies because of minor failures, which can lead to major accidents when the weather deteriorates. • 72.7% of the entire accidents happened due to “minor failures”. 37.6% of them were caused by engine damage, 19.3% by entanglement in floating objects, and 10.7% by flooding. • Two ships that were stranded due to engine room accidents and flooding last year were sunk and destroyed, leading to seven deaths. ◇ KOMSA reinforces data-based prevention efforts and AI-driven safety management. • The institution sends “safety accident warnings” to fishing vessels when their operation time and distance exceed safe limits. • AI-based sea traffic congestion prediction services can predict crowded waters for up to the next three days. • KOMSA is currently developing AI-powered collision prevention systems, considering the characteristics of coastal waters where there is high small-sized ship traffic. The analysis using the Maritime Transportation Safety Information System (MTIS, whose operation was entrusted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to the institution) showed that 77.5% of maritime accidents happened last year were concentrated on waters where ship traffic volume increased*. * This is based on ocean grid four-level spatial information of the MOF, which divides ocean space into a unit of a 2.3km by 2.8 km grid. ** The current status of maritime accident occurrence by water depending on increases and decreases in ship traffic volume for 2025 shows that 77.5% of the entire accidents happened in waters with increased traffic volume while 21.5% did in waters with decreased traffic volume. In the meantime, 1% of these accidents occurred in other waters. This is the result of analysis using MTIS. Ship traffic volume* in waters where accidents happened was about 92.3 times higher than in waters without accidents. * This is the average accumulated ship traffic volume by grid. On April 5, the Korea Maritime Transportation Safety Authority (KOMSA, President Jun-Seok Kim) revealed that ship traffic volume in waters around the country* increased by 9.7% compared to the previous year**, and there were patterns that was maritime accidents were concentrated on some congested waters. * These waters cover the entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Korea and some waters of East Asia. ** This is the analysis results of MTIS, and the analysis was conducted by deduplicate the data from location transmitters of each ship, such as AIS, LTE-M, and V-PASS. In particular, ship traffic volume within territorial waters went up by 10.5% year-on-year. An employee of KOMSA said, “As an increase in ship traffic volume is significant in coastal waters with high small-sized ship traffic, such as fishing vessels, there is a growing need for preventing collisions and near collisions between ships.” In fact, compared to the previous year, ship traffic rose more in June and August than in other months. During the same period, collisions and near collisions occurred in 122 ships, which was a 35.6% increase, or 32 ships from 90 year-on-year. In 2025, 3,840 ships were involved in maritime accidents, which rose by 7.9% or 281, compared to the previous year. Among these ships, 2,478 were fishing vessels, accounting for the largest share of the accidents. As the number of deaths and missing persons due to fatal accidents decreased, the “severity level of maritime accidents” also declined. The number of deaths and missing persons from maritime accidents in 2025 was 137 in total, which fell by 16.5% from 164 in 2024. It can be said that the figure decreased because casualties from fatal accidents, such as capsizing and sinking, went down compared to the previous year. Therefore, the severity level of maritime accidents*, which shows the scale of casualties by accident, fell to 3.6% in 2025 from 4.6% in 2024, returning to the recent 5-year average**. * A value that is obtained by dividing casualty figures by the number of ships involved in accidents and multiplying 100 to turn the result into an index. (casualty figures/the number of ships involved in accidents x 100). ** According to the analysis results of MTIS, the severity level over the past five years (2021-2025) was 3.9% in 2021, 3.1% in 2022, 2.8% in 2023, 4.6% in 2024, and 3.6% in 2025. The average severity level over the same period was 3.6%. However, the cases of deaths and missing persons were concentrated on safety accidents that happened on the site of fishing operations, such as falling overboard caused by waves and loss of footing, or being struck by objects like fishing gear and ropes. The number of deaths and missing persons from “falling overboard caused by waves and loss of footing” was 27 last year and 10 for “struck-by-object accidents caused by fishing gear and ropes” in 2025. The figures rose respectively from the previous year. * The number of deaths and missing persons was 27 for “falling overboard” in 2025, which increased by 2 from 25 in 2024. And the figure was 10 for struck-by-object accidents, caused by fishing gear and ropes in 2025, which rose by 4 from 6 in 2024. Stay alert to even “minor failures” as they can cause major accidents that inflict heavy casualties in deteriorating weather conditions. Even though serious accidents causing high casualties decreased in 2025 year-on year, accidents caused by “minor failures” – engine damage, entanglement in floating objects, and flooding – still have a large share*, accounting for 72.2% of the entire maritime accidents. * 37.6% of the entire accidents or those involving 1,051 ships were caused by engine damage, 19.3% or those involving 540 ships by entanglement in floating object, 10.7% or 300 ships by to flooding, and 8.1% or 227 ships by shafting system damage. The problem is that when “minor failures” coincide with deteriorating weather, they could result in secondary accidents, such as sinking and capsizing, that inflict large casualties. In fact, two fishing vessels that were stranded because of engine room accidents and flooding were sunk or destroyed in deteriorating weather conditions, killing seven people in total. The recent changes in the maritime weather environment back up these concerns. According to data from the Korea Meteorological Administration, the maximum significant wave height in domestic waters last year rose by 66.7% in the West Sea, 45.0% in the South Sea, and 29.2% in the East Sea, respectively, compared to the previous year. * In 2025, the maximum significant wave height and wind speed grew by 40% and 11.5% respectively year-on-year. From AI-based maritime transportation prediction to collision prevention. All this shows that the recent maritime accidents show more complex patterns as various risk factors overlap, such as crowded waters, conditions for fishing operations, and weather changes. Therefore, KOMSA reinforces data-driven prevention systems to help maritime personnel recognize signs of maritime accidents in advance and promptly respond to them. One of the representative examples is services to send “safety accident warnings” to fishing vessels that exceed certain limits based on the fact that the risk for accidents soars when operation time and distance surpass the limits. In addition, KOMSA also uses AI to offer services to predict the level of congestion of maritime traffic in the entire EEZ of the country and some coastal areas of East Asia for up to the next three days. These safety information services are available on the MTIS mobile app or KOMSA’s official website. The institution also promotes the development of AI-driven systems to reduce collisions of small-sized ships. These systems are expected to be developed to reflect the characteristics of coastal waters where there is heavy traffic of small-sized ships, such as fishing vessels, and the fishing environment, with which it aims to set up systems to more precisely detect collision risks in crowded waters. Jun-Seok Kim, President of KOMSA, stated, “As minor failures can prompt accidents that cause heavy casualties, if they coincide with deteriorating weather, special attention must be paid to examinations and management of ships prior to the departure.” “KOMSA, based on data-driven scientific analysis, is going to advance accident prevention systems more precisely and effectively so that they can benefit people in the field,” he added. The current status of increases and decreases in ship traffic volume in waters around Korea by grid in 2025 A comparison of accumulated ship traffic volume in 2025 depending on maritime accident occurrence A comparison of the number of ships involved in serious accidents and the severity level of maritime accidents over the past two years Fishing vessel safety accident warning service The search result of maritime traffic congestion in waters off the Gyeongnam region A concept map of collision prevention systems for small-sized ships