IHS Maritime casualty data records 1944 passenger vessel incidents (over 500gt) in the past 10 years, of which 68 incidents (3.4%) were of sufficient severity to result in the total loss of the vessel.
Altogether 4,784 lives have been lost over this time period with significant accidents such as the tragedy of Al Salam Boccaccio 98 in 2006, Princess of the Stars in 2008 and the Spice Islander 1 in 2011. The last of these capsized and sank in the Indian Ocean and this unfortunate incident alone accounted for 1,573 deaths.
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The overall number of casualty incidents appears to remain relatively constant year-on-year. After a peak of 250 incidents in 2010 there has been an improvement, with 176 incidents reported in 2013 and 87 up to June 2014. The vast majority of the incidents are minor, although their outcome can be catastrophic due to the nature of the cargo (passengers) carried and because they tend to occur in less regulated areas of the world.
Lives lost between 2004 and 2014.