The rapid sinking of the Bayesian superyacht and the loss of seven lives, including tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, in August 2024 cruelly emphasised the potentially lethal perils of the sea. This tragedy, although much publicised, is far from unusual. Globally, accidents at sea lead to thousands of deaths every year – but the true scale of the problem is unknown.
Undoubtedly, life at sea remains hard and dangerous in the 21st century, but this is difficult to quantify. There were 215 shipping industry related deaths at sea recorded in 2022. However, due to a lack of standardised data and under-reporting this figure is likely to be an underestimate.
