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This year, on April 14^th, the world will commemorate 100^th year since the sinking of the most famous ship of all time, Titanic.

2012 has started with a number of shipwrecks and some people have attempted to connect these events with Titanic’s disaster. At the beginning of the year, the world was devastated by the disaster of Costa Concordia. The number of victims consisted of a few dozen people. The first to raise analogies of Costa Concordia and Titanic were the people on board. When Titanic hit the iceberg, 1513 people were killed. Despite the fact that there were even worse disasters with a higher number of victims throughout the century, Titanic still remains a symbol of sea disasters. Thus, it is not a coincidence that during the International Seamen’s Day on June 25, the celebration will focus on passenger safety. In addition to this formal event, there will be a journey of Titanic-2 on a cruise ship Balmoral. The ship will sail from Southampton, England to America, and will reach the place of disaster on April 14, replicating the legendary journey of Titanic.

It said that at the beginning of the year, Titanic’s ghost is much more active around the world than usually. The first days of January are marked with an increased number of sea disasters. During the first days of January, in addition to the disaster of Costa Concordia, a number of large commercial vessels sunk, the fishing boat went on fire, killing three people and leaving other seven seriously wounded.

Here are listed all sea disasters of 2012 so far:

On 1 January, a ferry sank, killing seven passengers, near the shores of Kenya.

On 2 January, the crew of German container ship Main Trader rescued 15 fishermen from a Vietnamese fishing boat BTH TS 98379. Later, the same fishermen accused the crew of Main Trader of hitting their boat.

On 7 January, a cruise ship MSC Poesia ran aground in Bahamas. Luckily, no one was hurt.

On 8 January, a Taiwanese cargo ship Tycoon was smashed in the Indian Ocean.

On 11 January, in the Ross Sea, near Antarctica, a South Korean fishing vessel Jung Woo 2 caught fire, killing three people and leaving seven seriously burnt.

On 13 January, a cruise ship Costa Concordia hit the rocks and turned sideways. 11 people were killed and another 20 are missing. On the same day, near the shores of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea, a German container ship FAS Provence sank. Its crew was saved. On the same day, near the Spanish shores, a Greek fast ferry-catamaran Millenium 2 Acconia and Greek merchant ship New Glory hit each other. Though ferry had 184 passengers, there were no victims.

The worst day of the year so far is January 15. On this day, a South Korean tanker ship Doola No. 3 exploded and sank, killing 5 out of 16 crew members and leaving other 6 missing. On the same day, in the Adrian Sea, a Turkish tanker ship Edirne sank. Three Georgian and one Azerbaijani crew members were killed. That same day in the South China Sea, a Chinese ship Cheng Lu 28 hit a fishing boat and three people were killed. On January 15^th, an Irish fishing vessel Tit Bonhomme sank in the North Sea, leaving 5 of its crew members missing.

Disasters continued on January 16. In the Nigerian shelf, American vessel Mako and KS Endeavour oil platform caught on fire. 152 people were saved but two people went missing.

2011 were regarded to be one of the most unsuccessful for ships. However, the beginning of 2012 has a record number of sea disasters. In addition to sea disasters, there were a number of ship fires in which people were not injured. Six ships had engine problems and were left to drift for several days. Estonian ship Kaie hit a German ship near Antwerp. Fortunately, no one was hurt. A small incident was recorded in the Baltic Sea when on January 11 near the Swedish Kalmar City, a German ship Anke Angela ran aground. Its crew did not suffer any injuries.