The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Maritime Administrator has published its Annual Report on Marine Safety Investigations 2025.
During 2025, the Administrator received 958 total reports—a 0.3% increase compared to 2024 and a significant decrease compared to the average annual growth rate of 8% since 2021.
Very serious marine casualties
Very serious marine casualties were defined as those involving loss of life, total loss of the ship, or significant environmental damage.
During 2025, 12 very serious marine casualties were reported to the Administrator, compared to 18 in 2024, a decrease of 33%.
These 12 very serious marine casualties resulted in the deaths of 25 seafarers.
The incidents included:
- Two were related to working at height and resulted in two fatalities, which was the leading cause of death in the preceding year.
- Three separate incidents involved seafarers being struck by a moving object resulted in three fatalities.
- Three separate enclosed space entry incidents resulted in the loss of three lives.
- Two incidents in which three RMI-documented seafarers were fatally injured as a result of a fire/explosion.
- One collision between an RMI-flagged bulk carrier and a fishing vessel resulting in the loss of five non-RMI seafarers.
- One crew launch vessel which capsized during transfer operations resulting in the loss of seven RMI-documented seafarers and two non-RMI documented seafarers.
Marine casualties
Marine casualties are events, or a sequence of events, directly in connection with the operation of the vessel, that have resulted in serious injury, loss or material damage to the vessel, grounding or disabling of the vessel, collision or allision, and severe damage to marine infrastructure or to the environment.
There were 450 marine casualties reported to the Administrator during 2025.
Comparing the data against 2024, there was a reduction in the number of marine casualties across all incident types except for serious injuries to RMI seafarers, collision/allision, and fire/explosion. Serious injuries sustained by RMI seafarers continue to dominate the number of reported marine casualties at 37%, a 6% increase compared to 2024.
The data collected and displayed for the number of marine casualties by vessel age excludes serious injuries. The marine casualties reported are associated with property loss casualties and provide a broad overview of marine casualties related to vessel systems, material condition, and equipment over the course of a vessel’s operation within the RMI-flagged fleet.
The average age of the RMI-flagged fleet across all vessel types was 10.95 years. The majority (60%) of marine casualties occurred at, or after, the 10-year age period. A significant proportion of marine casualties occurred on vessels aged between 10 and 16 years, before decreasing up to 19 years of age.
Marine incidents
Marine incidents are events, or a sequence of events, other than a marine casualty, which have occurred directly in connection with the operation of the vessel, that endangered, or if not corrected, would endanger the safety of the vessel, its occupants, or the environment.
There were a total of 283 marine incidents reported to the Administrator during 2025.
Marine incidents decreased by 9% in 2025 compared to 2024. A significant factor accounting for this reduction overall is attributed to a decrease in the number of pollution related incidents. In addition, the number of marine incidents related to a reduction of propulsion has also decreased over the same period. Conversely, loss of propulsion, minor fires, and collisions/allisions have all increased throughout this reporting period across varying vessel types.
The data collected and displayed for the number of marine incidents by vessel age excludes serious injuries. The majority of marine incidents (57%) occurred on, or after, the average age of an RMI-flagged vessel (10.95 years). Based on the data, marine incidents on vessels younger than 10.95 years of age are occurring less often, and are not as likely to have a property loss-related incident due to a material failure.
Download the full report:
RMI Annual Report on Marine Safety Investigations 2025