The London Club is a mutual insurance association that provides protection and indemnity (P&I) insurance to shipowners and charterers. They primarily cover liabilities and risks associated with the operation of ships.
Cause Of Damage
FIBCs have a body of a flexible woven material (typically polypropylene) and is intended for shipping solid materials in powder, flake or granular form. These claims are almost always on voyages in which handy sized bulk carriers load breakbulk cargoes in China. The stowage plan often appears to have been developed with only the discharge port rotation in mind. As a result, very high value steel products can be over-stowed with jumbo bags of dry chemicals which can be corrosive to steel, and the jumbo bags are then themselves over-stowed with general cargoes sometimes including trucks and buses. In many cases the jumbo bags burst, spilling the dry chemicals within the hold.
Club’s Review
The Club’s review of these cases has highlighted that the breakbulk cargoes are almost never loaded and stowed in accordance with the principles set out in the Code of Safe Practice for Cargo Stowage and Securing (CSS Code) or in accordance with the ship-specific Cargo Securing Manual (CSM). When cargo damage occurs, affected parties may file claims with their insurance providers, such as the London Club, to seek compensation for the losses incurred.
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Source: London club