SO far this week Lloyd’s List has covered an exploding FPSO where 10 crew are missing presumed dead; we’ve seen a 20,000 teu Maersk giant run aground off Bremerhaven; and we all watched the seriously impressive skills of the helicopter pilots lifting 18 crew off a bulk carrier in high winds following a collision with a chemical tanker.

Connoisseurs of the Lloyd’s List Intelligence casualty feed will no doubt have also clocked a couple of capsizings, a minor oil spill, multiple losses from the fishing fleet and a depressing litany of ships that went bump in the night.

So when we tell you that ship casualties and incidents are at an all-time low we think it’s important to add a little context with this week’s edition of the Lloyd’s List Podcast.

Maritime safety is in a significantly better place than it was, but this week’s edition argues that we should not be lured into complacency by the apparent improvements in safety statistics.

The headline numbers are there for all to see, but the overall number of such incidents has stagnated a level that is still too high, and we have seen a stubborn spate of casualties resisting regulatory efforts to improve the situation over recent years.

In addition, the suicide rate amongst seafarers was already unacceptable and has recently increased further.

Joining Lloyd’s List editor Richard Meade for this edition are:

• Dr Grahaeme Henderson OBE, the former vice-president, shipping and maritime, at Shell International Trading & Shipping Co and current chair of the Together in Safety coalition.

• Phillip Belcher, Marine Director at Intertanko

• Katy Ware, Director of UK Maritime Services at the UK Maritime Coastguard Agency