A new study identified the most dangerous spots in the ocean, some of them were highly-trafficked areas. The danger is only expected to get worse with climate change.
"The South China Seas and East Indies, the East Mediterranean and Black Sea, and the North Sea and British Isles had the most accidents between 1999 and 2011," reported Discovery News.
There were over 293 accidents the East Indies and South China Seas, which contain about 70 percent of the Earth's coral.
The study was conducted by Southampton Solent University for the World Wildlife Fund.
The ships that are most in danger of sinking are usually older, meaning over 20 years, and small. Most of these ships also conduct their operations on a tight budget, with not enough crewmembers.
Sinking occurred most often from leaks and other technical problems, as opposed to shipwrecks from collisions.
"Climate change predictions are likely to exacerbate the causes of foundering: storm surge, changing wind/wave climates, extreme weather events," the study stated.
There have been less recorded accidents in the shipping industry since the 1980s. The number of accidents has dropped by about 18 percent over the past few decades.
The decrease can be linked to stricter maritime laws, and better quality vessels that are less likely to leak or sink.
The first law to improve the quality of ships was passed after the sinking of the Titanic, in 1912. The law was called the Safety of Life at Sea Convention.
Another well-know accidents that influenced legislature was the Exxon Valdez, which crashed into the bank of the Prince William Sound and spilled over 10.9 million gallons of oil. This accident brought about the International Maritime Organization's call for double hulls on ships.
Other tankers that spilled crude were the: Sea Empress, MV Pallas, and Prestige.
One of the more recent accidents involving oil was in 2011, when the MV Rena sank off the New Zealand coast, spilling 300 containers of oil.
The oil was responsible for the death of about 2,000 sea birds, the event is considered to be the worst environmental disaster in New Zealand's history.
The coral reefs have also been taking a beating from ships. This year a Chinese fishing boat ran into a 500-year-old coral reef by the Philippines. The impact damaged about 3,902 square meters of the reef, the same reef that had already been damaged earlier by a U.S. Navy vessel.
* This article has been updated to note a change.
