A major authority in logistics risk management – the TT Club – has updated its guidance on ocean freight following its own report that 66% of cargo damage incidents are related to poor practice and packing.

The TT Club has been the leading provider of insurance and related risk management services to the international transport and logistics industry for over 50 years.

One of the key aspects of the report was the revelation that reports of fires on container ships are recorded on a weekly basis, with major fire outbreaks happening on average every 60 days. The latter can result in loss of life, ship damage, cargo damage, environmental harm and supply chain disruption.

Many of these fires are attributed to dangerous goods that are either poorly packed, incorrectly classified or not even declared at all. The issue with undeclared dangerous goods, which is estimated to be 150,000 ticking container time-bombs each year, is now being addressed by carriers.

Hapag Lloyd, in conjunction with IBM, have launched an e-screening initiative to identify cargo that is not declared, with more investigation of potentially misdeclared cargo researched at the time of shipment booking.

The TT Club, along with other stakeholders, are now putting more pressure on UN Agencies and international governments to improve safety laws and to identify the parties involved in these practices.

There are industry wide calls for advanced dangerous goods training for those employed by exporters, importers, forwarders and distribution warehouses.