Bulk shipping represented 49% of Australia's total trade in 2015 but also accounted for 66% of all fatalities. Three crew members died off the Australian coast in 2015. At the same time, the circumstances surrounding two deaths on the coal carrier Sage Sagittarius in 2013 are before both a coronial inquest and a Senate inquiry into flag-of-convenience (FOC) shipping. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), charged with investigating major marine causalities, however, cautions against predicting a trend. It has found no established link between bulk carriers and a higher crew risk factor. Different companies operated each vessel involved, and all fatalities were in different circumstances.
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