Understanding the full impact on global trade of a catastrophic event such as a major port closure, collision or tsunami is hampered by a lack of timely data from the shipping industry, according to a prominent analyst.

The discipline of catastrophe modelling attempts to quantify the overall impact of a single major event, but relies on accurate data.

But one thing is increasingly clear: the worst-case scenarios are getting worse owing to the increasing size of ships, said Robert Muir-Wood, chief research officer at Moody’s RMS and a pioneer of the discipline.