Container claims going overboard

The North of England P&I club based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, reports in the latest issue of its loss-prevention newsletter Signals that container damage and loss continues to be a problem on container ships. “Container losses and collapsed stows in heavy weather continue to occur,” says the club?s head of loss-prevention Tony Baker. “Such weather is not altogether unexpected and it has highlighted a number of areas of poor practice that need to be rectified if the industry is to keep a lid on spiraling claims costs.”

Container claims can be particularly expensive. In 2006/7 North of England reported 16 cargo claims estimated in excess of $1 million; only two related to container losses but these accounted for 30% of the total value.

Baker says there are four principal factors behind recent incidents: failure of automatic twist-locks in lashing systems; failure to stow and secure containers in accordance with the ship?s cargo securing manual; mis-declared overweight containers; and failure to anticipate and minimise the effect of heavy weather.

“All of these factors can be resolved if shipowners and their officers take a more diligent approach to stowing and securing containers,” says Baker. “Problems with fully automatic twist-locks are well-documented and stack heights should be reduced or heavy weather avoided until suspect equipment is replaced. If heavy or high-cube containers form part of the mix, there shouldn?t be a problem if stowage and lashing is done in accordance with the cargo securing manual. Making proper use of the ship?s planning software, and understanding any shortcomings, is also crucial. Mis-declared overweight containers may be spotted by crane strain gauges and can possibly be prevented by closer shore-side monitoring of container stuffing. And finally, with the extent and increased accuracy of weather information and weather-routeing systems today, it should be possible for container-ship masters to amend voyage plans to minimise the effect of heavy weather,” he says.