Container cargo damage – the causes


One of the biggest contributory causes of container cargo damage is bad stowage – it would seem we have merely shifted the cargo problem further back up the transit chain


A considerable proportion of the Club’s time is taken up handling container cargo claims where 25% of the damage is physical, 14% temperature related , 11% containers lost overboard, 9% theft and 8% shortage.*


Large cargo claims – Type of damage Number of claims


30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%


The graph shows how these compare to damages of all the Club’s large cargo claims and highlights some of the real benefits, or otherwise, of containerisation.


Containerised cargo All cargo


It is worrying that one of the biggest contributory causes of container cargo damage is bad


stowage – causing nearly 20% of the claims. It would seem that we have merely shifted the cargo damage problem further back up the transit chain.


Shore error now accounts for around 27% of large container cargo claims compared with 19% for all types of cargo claim, tie this in with bad stowage statistics and it seems to point to problems originating at the time of stuffing.


We seem to have substituted problems in one large container (the ship) to problems in a lot of smaller containers (the container). With around 12,000,000 containers in circulation and 95,000,000 loaded container movements each year, this seems to be a real problem for the industry.


Although it is a major cause of container cargo damage, it would be wrong to lay the origin of all container cargo claims on bad stowage alone. The table (right) lists many other reasons for damage.


As an insurer finding and highlighting the problems and where the money goes is easy. Rectifying those problems unfortunately is not. The Club’s two videos Container matters and Any fool can stuff a container try, in a limited way, to address some of the these problems as do the articles in this document.


*Source: Analysis of Major Claims ● Lack of export packaging


● Increased use of weak retail packaging


● Inadequate ventilation ● Wrong choice of container ● Poor condition of container


● Lack of effective container interchange inspection


● Ineffective sealing arrangements


● Lack of clear carriage instructions


● Ineffective internal cleaning ● Contaminated floors (taint) ● Wrong temperature settings ● Condensation ● Overloading ● Poor distribution of cargo weight ● Wrong air flow settings ● Wrongly declared cargo


● B/l temperature notations misleading/unachievable


● Lack of reefer points ● Organised crime ● Heavy containers stowed on light ● Stack weights exceeded


● Heat sensitive cargoes stowed on/adjacent to heated bunker tanks or in direct sunlight


● Fragile cargoes stowed in areas of high motion


● Damaged, worn, mixed securing equipment


● Poor monitoring of temperatures


● Wrong use of temperature controls


2


Contamination Temperature


Infestation Sinking Loss overboard Physical Shortage Theft Wet damage


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