Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has added 2025 records to its public Data Portal, confirming the release in a GOV.UK notice on 20 January 2026. The branch presents the publication as part of its mission to improve safety of life at sea and prevent future accidents. (gov.uk)
Access is via the MAIB Data Portal, which provides an interactive dashboard and the option to download three CSV tables alongside a Power BI (.pbix) dataset that reproduces the online dashboard and embeds the CSVs. The portal describes the offer as a subset of anonymised accident data and indicates biannual republishes. (gov.uk)
The dataset is structured into three linked tables: Occurrences (occurrences.csv), Vessels (vessels.csv) and Affected Persons (affected_persons.csv). The Occurrences table covers the main event, severity and location; the Vessels table includes vessel category, damage and pollution; and the Affected Persons table records injuries and fatalities. (maps.dft.gov.uk)
Records can be joined using unique identifiers: Occurrence_Id, Vessel_Profile_Id and Affected_Person_Id. For users of Microsoft Power BI Desktop, a pre‑configured .pbix file is provided with the three tables already modelled to support ad‑hoc analysis. (maps.dft.gov.uk)
MAIB notes that published data are extracted from its COMPASS case management system following quality checks and may change as investigations progress. Dates for the main event are rounded to the first of the month and an explicit flag indicates when the date is unconfirmed; some non‑UK entries may show redactions under the Permanent Cooperation Framework. Positional data are in decimal degrees, and selected vessel dimensions and tonnage are floored to two significant figures, which supports anonymisation but means month‑level analysis is the appropriate baseline. (maps.dft.gov.uk)
Users comparing snapshots should record the download date and expect revisions between biannual republishes; figures previously published can differ from the latest version as new information is added. Where continuity matters, analysts should key on the unique IDs rather than text fields, and treat severity counts as provisional until case closure. (maps.dft.gov.uk)
The release sits within the UK’s statutory framework for accident reporting and investigation. The Merchant Shipping (Accident Reporting and Investigation) Regulations 2012 set the objective of safety investigations as the prevention of future accidents and require timely notification to the Chief Inspector; open data of this kind supports risk‑based oversight while remaining distinct from questions of liability. (legislation.gov.uk)
MAIB consulted in August 2025 on revoking and replacing the 2012 Regulations to align more closely with the IMO Casualty Investigation Code, with the consultation closing on 30 September 2025 after an extension. The expanded dataset provides an evidence base for operators and authorities while any legislative refresh is considered. (gov.uk)