The Marine Transportation Council (WSC) announced that in 2025, more than 10 percent of inspected cargo units had safety deficiencies. This statistic includes 9,645 safety deficiencies out of a total of 93,079 inspected units, which is equivalent to 10.36 percent.
Details of Safety Deficiencies
The identified deficiencies include incorrect documentation, improper marking and labeling, inadequate packaging, and insufficient cargo securing. These issues can increase risks such as damage to cargo, loss of containers, and fires on ships.
Joe Kramak, President and CEO of the Marine Transportation Council, stated: “Finding deficiencies in more than one-tenth of the inspected units is very concerning. Proper declaration, packaging, securing, and marking are fundamental safety requirements. When these requirements are not met, lives are put at risk.”
International Reports and the Need for Increased Oversight
This report includes information submitted to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) by countries including Chile, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, and the United States. WSC has taken on the responsibility of compiling and publishing these results after the IMO ceased its annual report in 2024. This action aims to maintain access to important safety information for governments and industries.
Another concerning point is that only seven countries out of more than 170 IMO member countries have reported container inspection results for 2025, creating significant gaps in the global safety picture. Joe Kramak emphasized: “Countries are responsible for enforcing cargo safety laws, which includes effective inspections. The fact that only seven member countries have reported results is alarming. More governments need to report their inspections so that risks can be continuously identified and necessary actions taken.”
The gaps in compliance and enforcement of regulations underscore the importance of the WSC cargo safety program. This program utilizes shared screening technologies, public inspection standards, and operational feedback to identify hazardous goods that have not been properly declared or not declared at all before loading onto ships.
The reported deficiency rates in previous years are as follows: 2017 – 8.64%, 2018 – 8.40%, 2019 – 6.54%, 2020 – 7.41%, 2021 – 10.86%, 2022 – 7.84%, 2023 – 11.00%, 2024 – 11.39%, 2025 – 10.36%.
