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CHART A COURSE
It is generally reckoned that around 10 per cent of all containers moving by sea contain some form of dangerous goods but the risk is greatest when those dangerous goods have been declared wrongly or gone undeclared altogether, whether out of ignorance or wilful avoidance of the applicable regulations. There are also dangers from properly declared dangerous goods that have been poorly secured within the container or have been badly packed or stowed. “The link between undeclared, misdeclared or poorly stowed dangerous cargoes and the increased incidence of catastrophic containership fires is hard to ignore,” says Ian J Lennard, president of the National Cargo
READ THE PAPER With its long-standing experience as an authorised inspection body in the US, NCB recognises that these diverse factors will require a similarly diverse approach to resolving the problem. It has set down a number of recommendations in a white paper, A comprehensive holistic approach to enhance safety and address the carriage of undeclared, misdeclared and other non-compliant dangerous goods. The white paper details 12 recommendations as part of a holistic approach, ranging from embracing a safety culture for dangerous goods compliance to practical measures for container and vessel inspections and monitoring. “Because of the clear and present risk predominantly to safety of life but also to ships, their cargoes and the environment, we are calling for all supply chain participants to work on a solution together,” says Lennard. NCB is, in the white paper, calling for urgent reform while offering
Bureau (NCB). “The reasons for issues with dangerous cargoes are diverse and include a challenging regulatory environment; cargo prohibitions; more complex supply chains; and varied levels of understanding and processes. Because of this, it is important that the stakeholders work together and
a way forward for enhancing industry-wide compliance and safety. It recommends a comprehensive, holistic dangerous goods programme that sets a high, minimum bar for achieving regulatory compliance requiring a robust internal safety culture with strong management backing.
CONTAINERSHIPS • NCB HAS WEIGHED IN ON THE DEBATE OVER CONTAINERSHIP FIRES WITH SOME PERSUASIVE DATA AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A HOLISTIC APPROACH AS CONTAINERSHIPS GET ever larger – the current record-holder is the newbuilding HMM Algeciras, which can carry almost 24,000 boxes – the risks posed by dangerous goods grow as well. Yet, while there have been many highprofile incidents over the years involving fires and explosions caused by dangerous goods, it has proved impossible to address the problem. And the problem seems to be getting worse. TT Club has calculated that, on average, there is a major fire aboard a containership every 60 days, but in 2019 there were nine such incidents, indicating that their frequency is increasing. Such events inevitably result in damage to cargo and the vessels themselves but can also result in fatalities aboard the ships and damage to the marine environment.
AS CONTAINERSHIPS GET EVER BIGGER, THE RISKS INVOLVED ARE ALSO MAGNIFIED
HCB MONTHLY | SEPTEMBER 2020
adopt a range of measures that will address all potential causes.”
