Containers Lost at Sea

Containers lost at sea are the boxes that go overboard from container ships, most often through stack collapse in heavy weather. The principal published count is the World Shipping Council’s annual survey of its member lines, which represent roughly 90 percent of global container capacity and report their own losses, with the remaining capacity estimated by proportion.

Reporting became a treaty obligation on 1 January 2026. Amendments to SOLAS Chapter V Regulations 31 and 32, adopted by Resolution MSC.550(108), require the master of a ship involved in the loss of freight containers to report the particulars to ships in the vicinity, to the nearest coastal State and to the flag State, which reports onward to IMO. Where the ship is abandoned or unable to report, the duty falls on the Company as defined in SOLAS Chapter IX. A companion amendment to MARPOL Protocol I, Article V, was made by Resolution MEPC.384(81).

The full article will cover the annual loss series and its outliers, the methodology of the survey and its limitations as a self-report, the difference between the several averages the industry quotes, the new reporting regime and what a report must contain, the relationship to the Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention, and the drifting-container hazard to navigation.