Trends in technical occurrence types

Between 2019 and 2022, 84.0% (12,363) of marine incidents included a Technical occurrence type. There was a steady increase in technical occurrences from 2019 to 2022, with 2022 resulting in a total of 3702 technical occurrences with 4.5% (126) of technical occurrence categorised as very serious or serious incidents (Figure 26, Table A9).

In 2022, vessel system failures comprised the majority of technical occurrence types having increased steadily from 263 in 2019 to 653 in 2022 (Figure 26). This increase is attributed to a significant increase in the reporting of ballast system failures from 57 in 2019, to 343 in 2022 (Figure 27).

In 2022, 17.3 % (639) of technical occurrences involved power, propulsion and/ steering system failures. Main engine and gearing failures were the most frequently reported technical failures and were amongst the top 3 technical occurrences for all vessel types except passenger vessels (Figure 27, Table A-10).

Figure 26 Top 5 issues associated with technical occurrence types, FF and RAV (2019–2022)

Figure 27 shows the top 10 failures in equipment associated with propulsion, power/steering; engineering systems, cargo and stores, and vessel access in 2022. These included:

356 reported failures related to main engine and gearing, 14.3% (51) of these were categorised as serious incidents.
343 reports of issues with ballast systems. 82.2% (282) of these issues occurred on bulk carriers.
211 reported failures of mooring and anchoring systems. 69.2% (146) of these failures were reported on bulk carriers.
198 reported failures of pilot/combination ladder.

Figure 27 Top 10 failures in equipment associated with vessel propulsion power/steering; engineering, cargo and access, FF and RAV (2022)

Figure 28 includes the top 10 failures in equipment associated with navigation and communication for 2022.

235 Radar and 110 Voyage Data Recorder failures accounted for 53.3% of the 647 navigation monitoring equipment failures reported in 2022.
198 reports were of issues with a vessel GMDSS.

Figure 28 Top 10 failures in equipment associated with vessel navigation and communication, FF and RAV (2022)

Figure 29 includes the more frequently occurring failures in equipment associated with firefighting and lifesaving.

72 reports were of a failure of a lifeboat. One of these was a serious incident where a lifeboat capsized when being launched resulting in two crew overboard.
59 reports of issues with fire detection equipment. This category included reports of faults with alarm panels and detectors.
59 reports of issues with rescue boats. Many of these were reports of faulty davit gears and motors or hydraulics requiring repairs.

Figure 29 Top 9 equipment failures associated with vessel lifesaving and fire-fighting, FF and RAV (2022)