Cargo insurers are urging steamship lines to put strong processes in place to identify mis-declared dangerous goods after a spate of containership fires this year.

The issue was a hot topic in the recent Safety@Sea conference held in Singapore, where it was highlighted that cargoes such as calcium hypochlorite were perfectly safe if carried correctly. However, the issue was malicious shippers that still mis-declare their cargoes to save on cost, despite the increasing legal consequences.

In May, mis-declared chemical cargoes of calcium hypochlorite and chlorinated paraffin wax are believed to have caused a blast and fire onboard a containership at port in Thailand that resulted in 130 people being taken to hospital.

The Thai incident followed three containership fires within 60 days of each other at the beginning of the year.

The vessel Grande America was abandoned while traveling from Hamburg to Casablanca when fire broke out in March, while the 7,500 container Yantian Express and the 9,200 container APL Vancouver were both severely damaged by onboard fires during January.

Unless steamship lines tighten up on catching the mis-declarations then cargo insurance premiums will need to increase across the board.

Evolution Forwarding specialise in the packing, documentation, compliance and movement of dangerous goods internationally, our expertise and willingness to get the job done has positioned us second to none in this important area.

For further information please email info@evolutionforwarding.com or call 0800 4346244.