BIFAlink


Policy & Compliance


www.bifa.org


Safe handling of dangerous goods in the maritime supply chain


After a spate of recent fires on board containerships, most of which will have broken out in containers, there is an increasing focus on the correct processing of dangerous goods


The recent reports of containership fires have once more focused those in the container supply chain on safety issues related to the incorrect processing of dangerous goods. The nascent Cargo Integrity campaign initiated by the TT Club, the international transport and logistics insurer, has as a consequence gained renewed impetus. The recent fire onboard Yantian Express,


details of the final judgment on the MSC Flaminia explosion in July 2012, and the ongoing investigation of the Maersk Honan fire are currently making headline news. Then just days ago has come news of Grande America sustaining a container fire in the Bay of Biscay and subsequently sinking. These perilous incidents not only frequently cost lives, millions of dollars in cargo losses and ship damage, but also significant delays in cargo supply chains amounting to major disruption across numerous industries in these just-in-time days.


Tip of the iceberg Yet these incidents are merely the tip of a failing safety iceberg. Taking the maritime segment of the global supply chain, it is estimated that a major containership fire at sea occurs on average every 60 days, albeit that there have already been four major cargo-related fire incidents in 2019. One particularly critical aspect of this is the correct declaration and handling of dangerous goods (DG), particularly ensuring that the correct data is made available to all parties handling the goods. Furthermore, insurance records indicate that


across the intermodal spectrum as a whole, 66% of incidents related to cargo damage can be


12


attributed to poor practice in the overall packing process. The calculated cost of these claims in the Marine Aviation & Transport (MAT) insurance sector is in excess of US$500 million a year. All types of cargo can be mishandled.


However, wrongly classified, labelled, packed or simply inaccurately identified dangerous commodities bring the greatest potential risk of disaster. Estimating the degree of failure to comply with best practices in this regard is not straightforward. ICHCA International, the cargo handling operatives association, has calculated that of the 60 million packed containers moved each year, 10% or 6 million are declared as DG. Information from published government


inspections (which are invariably biased towards declared DG loads) suggests that 20% of these are poorly packed or incorrectly identified. This translates into 1.3 million potentially unstable DG containers travelling around the world each year. Container lines, in particular, are making efforts


to mitigate the problem. The Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS), in which many of the top lines participate, has been active for a number of years and has successfully identified a number of commodities that commonly cause


problems during transport – not always limited to those formally identified as dangerous. As we have previously identified, a large number of commonly used household items are either, or contain, items such as lithium batteries which are hazardous.


TT Club portal TT Club has additionally promoted, together with UK P&I Club and Exis Technologies, the Hazcheck Restrictions Portal, which is designed to identify and streamline the complexity of regulations and protocols imposed by carriers and ports around the world in relation to transporting declared dangerous goods. Above all, there is a need for all involved in the


supply chain to have a realistic perception of risk and a responsible attitude towards liability. Safety is everyone’s responsibility and any party moving DG should ensure that they devote sufficient physical resources, and that their staff are adequately trained (including awareness) to ensure the safe handling of such products.


BIFA would like to thank the TT Club for its contribution to this article.


August 2019


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20