For ships on different trades the probabilistic distribution of the energy absorbed by structural damage given a collision takes place can be described as a function of the displacement of the struck vessel. For a striking location midship of the struck vessel the 25- and 90-percentile values of the energy to be absorbed are shown in Fig. 13. For other striking locations the calculated energy reference values will be smaller. It is noted that the calculated energy level is highly dependent on percentile values. It is also noted that the energy to be absorbed given a collision depends strongly on the sea route, i.e. on the distribution of striking vessels in the area. In calculations of the energy reference values for normal merchant vessels it might seem reasonable to choose the striking vessel from the world distribution. However, the world distribution reflects the large number of smaller vessels in local traffic worldwide. Therefore, for merchant vessels in international traffic the distribution of meeting ships will have larger displacements than the average world candidates, as clearly seen from Fig. 13. For vessels on fixed routes in trafficked areas, such as ferries crossing the Strait of Dover, it would be relevant to use route specific energy reference values. There is a need for more research on the distribution of energy reference values for typical shipping routes for tankers, bulk carriers, container vessels, etc.