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GET IT RIGHT CONTAINER FIRES • ADDRESSING THE SCOURGE OF FIRES ABOARD CONTAINERSHIPS MEANS FOCUSING ON THE CARGO, SAID A RECENT WEBINAR FROM THE TT CLUB AND UK P&I CLUB THESE PAGES HAVE, over many years, spoken about the problem of fires aboard container vessels, which happen with
somewhere, whether before loading, after discharge or on a ship, and each has the potential to cause a major tragedy, with
depressing regularity and cause massive financial losses as well as the death of many seafarers. Moreover, while there have been many attempts to stem the tide, those efforts have so far failed to eliminate those incidents. The TT Club has often been at the forefront of those efforts and it is continuing to raise awareness of the issues involved. In concert with the UK P&I Club, it is running three webinars on the subject, the first of which took place on 13 January and focused on the importance of getting the cargo right. If dangerous goods are properly declared, packed and stowed, the problem can be removed – but there are well documented reasons why that still does not happen. The webinar was moderated by Stuart Edmonston, loss prevention director at the UK P&I Club, who noted that it is not just fires aboard ships that is the problem: not a week goes by without a fire in a container
loss of life and property damage.
HCB MONTHLY | FEBRUARY 2021
SHAPE OF THE PROBLEM Welcoming the more than 250 people who had signed up to view the webinar, Edmonston handed over to Peregrine Storrs-Fox, risk management director at the TT Club, who echoed the introduction, highlighting the massive explosions at Beirut and Tianjin as also being caused by the improper handling and storage of dangerous goods that had arrived by ship in containers. “The risks are there throughout the supply chain,” he said. But, looking at ship losses in particular, onboard fires present a severe challenge both to ships’ crews and to responders. While the errors found in packing and shipping dangerous goods may often be related to ignorance and simple errors, it is believed that many are the result of fraud. Storrs-Fox mentioned that it is generally
thought that around 10 per cent of all containers include dangerous goods but it is also thought that perhaps as many as 5 per cent more contain undeclared dangerous goods. It is also acknowledged that the regulations are extremely complex, requiring expertise and diligence if compliance is to be achieved. But, Storrs-Fox reminded his audience, the judgment in the MSC Flaminia case made it clear that the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code should be seen as a baseline and that shippers must consider all risks inherent in their consignments, not just those covered by the rules. The regulations are not only complex but also differ from other rules that need to be complied with. For instance, the UN numbering system for dangerous goods does not match the coding system used in trade and customs rules. If these were aligned, it would ease compliance, Storrs-Fox said. Furthermore, there are multiple tracks of data involved in each shipment – bills of lading, safety data sheets, dangerous goods declarations (which are particularly relevant to stowage) and others. Managing all these different data flows is a big task. There are guides to help shippers navigate the regulations, such as those provided by TT Club and its partners, but these are no substitute for having the expertise – especially scientific expertise – available to properly interpret the requirements, Storrs-Fox said.
