Timeline

24 August 1849: The burning of the Ocean Monarch

1957: The first purpose-built roll-on-roll-off ('ro-ro') ferry, the Bardic Ferry, running between England and Northern Ireland, begins operating

1959: The United Nations creates a specialist agency, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), whose role is to establish international standards of safety at sea. This is the only UN agency based in Britain

1960s: The beginnings of the 'container revolution'

1970s: By the mid-1970s some 400 VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carriers) have been built, capable of carrying 250,000 tons of oil. Even larger tankers of 500,000 are also built

1982: In the Falklands campaign, the Merchant Navy carries out huge 'sealifts' of UK forces and equipment

1990s: Britain's merchant fleet is now eleventh in the world, with just 2% of the world's trading ships. Ships actually registered in Britain stand at one half of one percent

1990: The IMO introduces new measures to reduce air pollution from ships

1991–92: Nearly 300 reported attacks on ships by pirates, mainly in Far Eastern waters

1992: An independent report indicates that in the event of a national emergency there are now insufficient British seamen and merchant ships to move and support UK forces and their equipment

1992: The Carver Report finds the safety record of the British fleet 'second to none'

1998: The Sovereign Maersk becomes the world's largest container vessel, able to carry over 6500 20 ft-long containers (TEUs)