VIKAND’s commercial clinical dataset has reiterated findings first set out in Gard’s 2026 Crew Claims Report, indicating that cardiovascular disease stands out as the single greatest cost driver among crew health issues despite representing a relatively small share of onboard medical consultations. The concordant accounts were reported on 18 August 2026.
Gard’s analysis drew on roughly 3,000 protection and indemnity crew claims and identified cardiovascular illness as producing outsized financial consequences for ship operators and insurers. The club’s report framed the condition as a leading source of high-cost claims within its dataset.
VIKAND, which compiles commercial clinical data from shipping operations, said its findings reinforced Gard’s conclusions. Its commentary noted that although cardiovascular events are not the most frequent cause of consultations at sea, severe cases can impose disproportionate clinical and operational burdens.
Both accounts underline a recurring theme: a concentration of cost in relatively few but severe incidents. The material suggests the burden of crew ill health is not distributed evenly across case numbers but is amplified when high-acuity cardiovascular episodes occur.
Data sources and scope
Gard’s Crew Claims Report is based on around 3,000 P&I crew claims, giving the club a large, indemnity-focused view of the costs associated with seafarer illness. VIKAND’s contribution comes from its commercial shipping clinical dataset, which parallels the club’s claims-oriented perspective by tracking medical outcomes and the clinical severity of onboard events.
Taken together, the two data streams provide both a claims-led account of financial impact and a clinical view of severity, allowing observers to link expensive claims with the underlying medical conditions driving them.
Why a small share of cases can be costly
The reports highlight that a low incidence of cardiovascular consultations does not preclude heavy financial and operational consequences when incidents are serious. Severe medical presentations at sea can trigger complex clinical management needs, and the data presented by both Gard and VIKAND shows those episodes carry a disproportionate share of total claims costs.
This pattern is evident across the two datasets without relying on single-case anecdotes. The alignment between a P&I club claims analysis and an independent commercial clinical dataset strengthens the case that cardiovascular events merit particular attention in the broader crew health picture.
The two organisations did not, in the material supplied for this item, set out prescriptive measures or quantify follow-on costs such as evacuation or repatriation. What is clear from the reporting is the financial concentration of risk around a small number of high-severity events involving cardiovascular illness.
Industry stakeholders will have to determine how to weigh these aligned findings against their own operational and medical records. The combined evidence from Gard and VIKAND provides a common evidence base that may inform future discussions on screening, medical preparedness and the management of high-acuity cases at sea.
The report of 18 August 2026 presents the headlined reinforcement of Gard’s earlier work. Both datasets underline that, for crew health risk, frequency of presentation and cost to the maritime community are not synonymous, and that cardiovascular disease remains a central concern in the distribution of maritime health expenditure.