The marine casualties investigation board was set up in December 1997 and its legal framework within the national administration was finalized in 2003 and 2004. Since it was established the BEAmer has dealt, on average, with 3000 incidents annually. Among these : - about 200 lead to the opening of preliminary investigations to see if they meet the criteria to warrant a full formal investigation and which sometimes lead to the publication of marine casualty safety digests; - 35 to 40 occurrences a year lead to the opening of full technical accident inquiries.