IMO MANDATES REPORTING OF CONTAINERS LOST AT SEA
The International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Maritime Safety Committee has recently formally adopted new amendments to its Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations. and will require mandatory reporting of all containers lost at sea from 1st January 2026.
SOLAS Regulation 31 now mandates that the master of a ship involved in the loss of containers must immediately reports specific details to nearby ships, the nearest coastal state, and the vessel’s flag state. The flag state is then responsible for passing this information to the IMO via a new module in the Global Integrated Shipping Information System (GISIS). SOLAS Regulation 32 outlines the reporting process, stipulating that reports of containers lost at sea must be made as soon as possible, with updates provided as more information becomes available. A final count of lost containers must be confirmed after a thorough inspection. Mandatory details include the position of the lost containers, the number lost, and whether any contained dangerous goods.
CLECAT welcomes the amendments to the SOLAS Regulations, as they will help improve maritime safety and environmental protection thanks to a better reporting of lost containers. According to World Shipping Council’s data, around 1,500 containers have been lost annually between 2008 and 2022.
Source: The Loadstar