The International tanker Owners' Pollution Federation (ITOPF) has been collecting statistics on oil spills from tankers since 1970 and has just released data for 2015.
The clear trend for the last 35 years has been a steady reduction in the number of incidents involving large oil spills (greater than 700 tonnes) and this has continued into 2015.
There have on average been 1.8 such incidents each year since 2010, in stark contrast to an average of 24.5 such spills per year during the 1970s.
There has also been a corresponding decrease in the quantity of oil spilled.
It is noteworthy that this has happened during a period which has seen growth in the volume of oil transported by sea.
This is good news for the environment, tanker operators and, of course, their insurers.
Number of large spills (>700 tonnes) from 1970 to 2015
ITOPF press release: Downward trend in tanker spills continues.
More information on oil tanker spill statistics for 2015 and earlier years can be found on ITOPF's website.