Major maritime disasters in the past 5 years

The Chinese cruise ship that capsized Tuesday on the Yangtze river with 458 people on board is the latest disaster to hit the maritime transport and leisure sector in recent years.

Here are other major cases of cruise ships, ferries and migrant vessels capsizing in Africa, Asia and Europe since 2011.

- April 19, 2015: LIBYA - More than 700 migrants die when a fishing trawler taking them to Europe rolls over off the coast of Libya. A mass movement of passengers to one side of the boat caused it to topple over as a Portuguese cargo ship was drawing near to lend assistance. It is the worst such catastrophe in decades in the Mediterranean, where almost 1,800 people have died this year alone according to the International Office for Migration (IOM).

- April 16, 2014: SOUTH KOREA - An overloaded ferry, the Sewol, sinks off the island of Jingo with 476 people on board, including 325 students on a high school field trip. The disaster kills more than 300 people. In November 2014, a court sentenced the captain to 36 years in prison for fleeing from the ship while passengers were still trapped inside.

October 3, 2013: ITALY -  After leaving Libya, a fishing boat carrying more than 500 migrants, mainly from Eritrea, catches fire and sinks in the middle of the night near the Italian island of Lampedusa. At least 366 people drowned after being trapped inside. Lampedusa is near Tunisia and has become a major port of entry for illegal migrants trying to reach Europe from Africa.

April 30, 2012: INDIA - An overloaded ferry breaks in half and sinks during a storm on the Brahmaputra river in the northeastern state of Assam. At least 203 people died or went missing. Another 150 or so were picked up by rescuers or managed to swim to safety.

January 13, 2012: ITALY - The Concordia, a cruise ship owned by the Costa line, hits rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio with 3,200 tourists on board. The ship does not completely sink, but 32 people are killed nonetheless. The captain, Francesco Schettino, is convicted of multiple manslaughter, causing a maritime accident and abandoning his ship before the passengers and crew have been evacuated, and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

July 10, 2011: RUSSIA - Many children are among the 122 people killed when the tourist ship Bulgaria breaks up during a storm on the Volga river, 800 kilometres (500 miles) east of Moscow. Only 79 passengers survived as the 56-year-old ship sank in a matter of minutes.