UK MCA issues Marine Guidance Note
Liquefaction of mineral ores, including iron ore fines, may result in cargo shift and loss of stability and this has been the cause of a number of serious casualties in recent years.
Iron ore fines are particularly prone to liquefaction and the Master should refer to section 7 of the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes (IMSBC) Code, which warns about cargoes that may liquefy.
The UK MCA has issued relevant Marine Guidance Note is to advise industry of the draft individual schedule for IRON ORE FINES and the draft revised individual schedule for IRON ORE and the draft new test procedure for determining theTransportable Moisture Limit (TML) of iron ore fines contained in the DSC.1/Circular.71 In considering the above, users of the IMSBC Code are advised to implement the draftschedules and test procedures as soon as possible.
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New draft schedule for Iron Ore Fines, revised schedule for Iron Ore and new testprocedure for determining the TML of Iron Ore Fines:
- In light of these incidents, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has prepared a new draft schedule for Iron Ore Fines, a draft amendment to the individual schedule for Iron Ore and a draft amendment to appendix 2 to the IMSBC Code for the inclusion of Modified Proctor/Fagerberg test procedure for iron ore fines.
- A new schedule for Iron Ore Fines was adopted and as a consequence of this the existing schedule for Iron Ore should be amended.
- The new schedule for Iron Ore Fines, a Group A Cargo, is valid for iron ore cargoes containing both 10% or more of fine particles less than 1 mm in diameter and 50% or more of particles less than 10 mm in diameter. The content of goethite shall be less than 35%.
- The existing schedule for Iron Ore, a Group C Cargo, is amended to be valid for iron ore cargoes containing either less than 10% of fine particles less than 1 mm in diameter, or less than 50% of fine particles less than 10 mm in diameter, or both, or iron ore fines containing 35% or more goethite.
- The shipper is required to provide to the master well in advance the declaration of the goethite content of the cargo as part of the cargo information.
- Appendix 2 in the IMSBC Code should be amended to include the Modified Proctor/Fagerberg Test Procedure for Iron Ore Fines.
- Taking into account that the mandatory entry into force date of these amendments would be 1 January 2017, operators are strongly advised, in light of these recent incidents on vessels carrying cargo which may liquefy, to implement the relevant sections of amendment 03-15, as described in the DSC.1/Circular.71, as soon as possible.
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Further information may be found by reading IMO Circular DSC.1/Circ.71
