In 2025, out of the approximately 280 million containers transported by the ships in the world fleet, only 1,478 were lost at sea. The Announces Latest Annual Report on Containers Lost at Sea published by the World Shipping Council (WSC), the association that represents the main container shipping companies world championships, which recalls how the negative record dates back to 2013 when 5,578 containers were lost, while the historic low had been marked in 2023 with only 221 boxes missing at sea.

If the 2025 figure is equivalent to 0.0005% of containers transported during the year on ships worldwide, however, this is up from the 576 containers lost in 2024 and is higher than the average of the last three years. The report states that This growth is strongly influenced by several accidents and, in particular, the loss of a vessel responsible for the loss at sea of 640 container, which is approximately 43% of all containers lost during per year. This pattern is repeated regularly throughout the series WSC history: it is not widespread systemic problems that are inflating the numbers, but isolated high-impact incidents.

The report identifies the difficult weather conditions and oceanic areas, particularly in the North Atlantic and the North Pacific, as well as in wildfires, the main factors that contribute to container loss. In addition, the document shows that in 2025 128 highest figure recorded since the WSC began collecting data on lost container recoveries at sea.

Finally, the report points out that 2026 has been characterized by a significant novelty concerning the international regulatory framework. From January 1, 2026, in fact, the new IMO legislation has come into force, which makes the reporting of all containers lost at sea or spotted adrift. Amendments to the SOLAS Convention - in Regulations 31 and 32 of Chapter V - require flag states to report regularly to the International Maritime Organization on the number of containers missing.