Among the resolutions adopted by the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) at the meeting held in London a few days ago, there are amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Human Life in (SOLAS), which is expected to enter into force on 1 January 2026, according to which, inter alia, it will have to be The loss of containers at sea must be reported.

In particular, the amendments to SOLAS stipulate that the master of a vessel involved in the loss of containers immediately and comprehensively report the details of the incident to nearby vessels, to the nearest coastal State and to the flag. The latter will transmit this information to the IMO. The incident must be reported in the as short a time as possible and must be followed by Updates as they become available. It also has to be notified of the number of containers lost after the a thorough inspection and details of the incident that must be communicated include the number of containers and the possible presence of dangerous goods in the Lost containers. In addition, the masters of the ships that identify Drifting containers must report sightings to ships and the nearest coastal state.

This obligation was welcomed by the World Shipping Council (WSC), the international association that It represents containerized shipping companies. 'The new rules, amending in particular Rules 31 and 32 of the SOLAS - commented Lars Kjaer, Senior Vice President of Safety & WSC Security - mark a significant advance in the safety of navigation and environmental protection. Ensuring timely and detailed reporting of containers lost or adrift, these amendments will improve the safety of navigation, will facilitate rapid response actions and mitigate potential environmental risks."

Since 2008, the World Shipping Council has been collecting from its information on the number of containers lost at sea, and produces a specific report annually which it submits to the IMO. The next report will be published in the coming weeks which will include data referring to 2023, while the last publication, referring to 2022, reports that in the year 661 of the 250 million containers transported by the the number of losses recorded by the when the association began to draw up this report.