• Discrepancy in container stacking strength: WSC, working together with IMO Member governments and other industry associations, proposed to the IMO’s Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargoes and Containers (CCC 6) in September 2019 to align the Safe Container Convention (CSC)’s and ISO 1496-1 container stacking strength requirements, noting that the existing discrepancy might have significant safety implications, including collapsed container stacks and containers lost at sea. This is an issue that is now being considered as part of the MARIN TopTier project.
• Mandatory reporting of containers lost at sea: Presently, at the international level, there are mandatory reporting requirements for containers lost overboard that are declared to contain dangerous goods and marine pollutants. However, there are not yet comparable international mandatory reporting requirements for containers lost overboard, irrespective of their declared content.
Improvements Achieved
The liner industry has been engaged in this safety effort over two decades, and working with our partners in the supply chain there has been quite some progress, including in regard to:
• Amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention: On July 1, 2016, changes to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention requiring verification of container weights before packed containers may be loaded aboard ships went into effect. This is an effort WSC advocated in support of for many years. The requirement makes container gross mass verification (VGM) a legally binding condition for vessel loading. Mis-declared container weights have contributed to the loss of containers at sea, as well as to other safety and operational problems.
• Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code): The IMO, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), with industry support, produced a code of practice for the packing of CTU, including containers, outlining specific procedures and techniques to improve safety, such as how to ensure correct distribution of the weight inside the container, proper positioning, blocking and bracing according to the type of cargo, and other safety considerations. The code was approved in late 2014, and informal work to revise it has commenced.
• Revised ISO standards for container lashing equipment and corner castings: In support of the IMO’s efforts to enhance container safety, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), with the industry’s active participation, revised its standards regarding lashing equipment and corner castings and the new standards went into effect in 2015. The corner casting standard is poised to be revised in the near future.
For more information about this and other initiatives related to the improved safety of handling containers, visit: Safety — World Shipping Council.
There are over 6,300 containerships continuously operating on the world’s seas and waterways linking continents and providing vital supplies to communities around the globe. The liner shipping industry’s goal remains to keep the loss of containers carried on those ships as close to zero as possible. We will continue to explore and implement preventive and realistic measures to make that happen and welcome continued cooperation from governments and other stakeholders to accomplish this goal.
WSC is a co-sponsor of a submission to IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) 102 by the European Union with a proposal for a new output on the mandatory reporting of containers lost at sea. The liner shipping industry supports such a mandatory reporting requirement and will continue to advocate for its early implementation.
Original Article: World Shipping Council Report, Containers Lost At Sea - 2022 Update
The Report • September 2022 • Issue 101 | 103
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