Container Loss Becomes Concerning

2120

Recently the UK P&I Club conducted a webinar to discuss key issues that are affecting the shipping market now. Here’s what Viswa Group wants to highlight from that webinar.

The webinar hosted by UK P&I club & TT club had 255 attendees.

Key Points

  • Loss of containers becomes more and more concerning: primarily because of environment – dangerous good & plastics
  • Existing data:

    Very difficult to establish what is the cause of container losses:
    • Data is aggregated
    • Not suitable for causation analysis
    • Most casualties relate to extreme weather conditions (in North Atlantic or in Pacific during tropical storms)
    • There is no trend, and risk is evenly distributed across vessel types.
  • Failures in the following are the most common reasons of container loss:
    • Cargo packing
    • Container structure
    • Stowage planning & implementation
    • Lashings
    • Routing
    • Seamanship
    • Naval architecture & dynamic forces

What is being done about it?

      • Some areas see more action than others
      • Some of the actions taken:
        • “Lashing@Sea” Seminal research by MARIN reported to IMO in Sep 2010
        • Verified Gross Mass mandatory Jul 2016 (SOLAS Chapter VI, Part A, Regulation 2)
        • ISO review / update of container standards
        • SOLAS & CSS Code on-going review
  • The actions which the panel believes would have the largest impact:
    • Neil Gardiner:
      • Include vessel movement (bending and twisting) into calculation of lashing forces.
    • Tom Starr:
      • Rewrite design criteria as they are outdated and developed for the ships of the size that they were 10 years ago.
      • Conduct a research equivalent to MARIN’s one back in 2010.

Questions from the audience:

Q: Cargo planners often partially load the ship which results in high GM values and a “stiff ship”, i.e. short rolling period, which increases the risk of container loss. Are there any suggestions as to how this might be avoided?

A (Neil Gardiner): Re-stowing will have to be a part of any solution, so there is no cheap option.

Q: Is there difference in failure of loose lashings with fixed deck arrangements?

A (Neil Gardiner): Haven’t been observed. Both take similar working loads and have similar problems. Preventative maintenance is the key.

Q: During managing casualties, what is the advice in dealing with authorities?

A (Neil Gardiner):  They try to be helpful, but resources they involve in the matter are very limited. As a result, quality of produced reports is not perfect, carriers often spend a lot of time fixing their misjudgment.

Q: What is the most difficult part in managing disputes and preparing for litigation after the loss of cargo?

A (Tom Starr): Number of parties involved and them being scattered around jurisdictions.

Q: What is being done with mis-declared dangerous goods cargo?

A (Neil Gardiner): First of all deliberate mis-declared happens just as often as simply mistakes. Trust plays a large role in the process. Currently it relies largely on the ability of lines to identify that.

Did you subscribe to our daily newsletter?

It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!

Source: Viswa Group