There were 1,821 reportable marine casualties reported in 2023, involving 2,146 inspected vessels, in the US Coast Guard’s Office of Commercial Vessel Compliance’s 2023 Flag State Control Domestic Annual Report.
This was slightly down on the 2022 figure. In 2023 there were 38 flag state detentions, down by one from the 2022 figure.
The annual report highlights domestic fleet inspection, deficiency, and marine casualty statistics and serves as a tool that highlights trends, identifies key performance indicators, and draws attention to findings over the past calendar year.
The report covers US-flagged barges, cargo vessels, passenger vessels, vessels operating on the Outer Continental Shelf, research and school ships, fishing vessels, and towing vessels. It noted that the average age of vessels in the US flag fleet was now 27 years.
In 2023 the US flag fleet contained 17,577 vessels subject to inspection, with USCG Marine Inspectors conducting 20,647 inspections (identifying 29,925 deficiencies). Thirty-eight of these inspections uncovered serious substandard conditions onboard which were not being proactively managed by the company, vessel owner or operator resulting in a ag state detention of the vessel.
There were 1,821 reportable marine casualties reported in 2023, involving 2,146 inspected vessels
| Vessel Type | Fleet Size | # Of Vessels | % Of Fleet |
| Barge | 4,919 | 287 | 6% |
| Cargo | 574 | 242 | 42% |
| Passenger | 6,689 | 499 | 8% |
| OCS | 471 | 46 | 10% |
| R&SS | 55 | 10 | 18% |
| Towing | 4,869 | 1,062 | 22% |