Fatalities among the world’s merchant seafarers (1990–1994)

This paper presents the findings of a study into fatalities among seafarers serving on board merchant vessels worldwide. Statistics obtained from official maritime authorities are used to provide a comparison of mortality rates among seafarers in 19 different national fleets, and to estimate the number of seafaring lives lost at sea worldwide. This study has the advantage of distinguishing between five different causes of death at sea: deaths through maritime disasters, occupational accidents, illnesses, crewing personnel missing at sea and suicides, homicides and unexplained causes. The findings are compared with those of previous studies and with published statistical information on casualties worldwide. It is evident that statistics released by respected maritime sources grossly under-report casualties arising from disasters involving merchant vessels, and fail to address mortality through all other causes of death at sea.