Nordic Association of Marine Insurers (Cefor) a new insurance data analysis shows that the structural risk of engine room fires in the global shipping industry remains higher than previous levels.
Accident numbers remain high and stable
Between 2019 and 2021, the incidence of engine room fires rose sharply, stabilizing from 2022 onwards. However, even after stabilization, the number of accidents remains far higher than pre-2019 levels, indicating a long-term upward shift in the risk baseline, rather than a short-term fluctuation.
At the same time, claims costs have remained high since 2019, exceeding the pre-2019 average in most years.
▲Source: Internet, infringement must be deleted
Although claims costs fluctuate more than accident rates, the overall economic loss caused by engine room fires has increased significantly.
Aging vessels drive up accident risk and claims costs
One of the report’s core conclusions: vessel age is highly correlated with fire risk.
Older vessels not only experience engine room fires more frequently, but also have higher average claims costs after an accident.
Vessels over 15 years old are particularly prominent in risk, while newly built vessels consistently have the lowest risk across all indicators.
This trend also confirms the industry’s widespread concern about the aging global fleet and declining reliability of ship machinery and equipment.
Passenger ships and ro-ro ships have the highest risk
Fire risk varies significantly by vessel type: the incidence of engine room fires on passenger ships, container /car /ro-ro ships is 2 to 3 times that of bulk carriers and tankers.
Passenger ships have the highest claims costs and the greatest volatility;
Over the past 15 years, claims costs for container ships, car carriers, and ro-ro ships have shown a strong long-term upward trend.
Bulk carriers and tankers have relatively low overall accident rates and moderate cost increases, reflecting a clear divergence in fleet risk exposure.
Vessel age + vessel type combined effect amplifies losses
Combining vessel age and type analysis, the characteristics of high-loss combinations are very clear: container ships, car carriers, and ro-ro ships over 5 years old have persistently high claims costs;
Loss risk for bulk carriers and tankers over 20 years old also increases significantly;
Passenger ships aged 15–20 years reach peak claims costs among their vessel type.
All vessel types show a pattern of newer vessels having lower losses, further confirming the strong correlation between vessel age and fire risk.
Technical causes and industry response
The report points out that fuel system failures (especially low-pressure fuel line leaks) are a significant cause of engine room fires.
Technical experts from the Nordic Association of Marine Insurers have raised concerns on this issue and are conducting discussions with classification societies and regulatory bodies such as the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Data source
The conclusions of this study are based on hull and machinery insurance claims data reported by members of the Nordic Association of Marine Insurers to the Nordic Marine Insurance Statistics Database (NoMIS), covering losses over USD 10,000, and including estimated claims incurred but not yet reported as of December 2025.
