Tag: cargo damage

The hotspots onboard the ultra large container ship 'Maersk Honam' have been almost extinguished and the vessel is now tentatively expected to berth next week, when the discharging operations will commence. If everything proceeds as planned, the operations are estimated to last 4 to 7 days.

A recent run of container loss claims by the London Club has highlighted some of the common contributory factors, emerging from the investigation process. The Club noted that the subject of mis-declared container weights continues to be a problem, however, it was the attending surveyor’s observations regarding cargo securing equipment that 'catch the eye'.

The marine transportation of containers is a complex operation, requiring close supervision from the moment the containers are taken until they are safely delivered to the receiver. As such, several claims are resulted from container trade, many of which could have been easily avoided had greater oversight and diligence been exercised.

Against the backdrop of encouraging global economic growth and an improved outlook for the shipping industry, the International Union of Marine Insurance provided an overview on the current state of the hull, cargo and offshore energy insurance markets, on the sidelines of its Spring Conference in Hamburg.

The two subsequent fire incidents involving Maersk vessels, as well as the boxship collision in Karachi Port earlier this month that forced the temporary closure of the port, highlighted the importance of always investing in cargo insurance, said iContainers, as the amount of insurance that all shipping carriers are obliged to offer by law is limited.

Heavy weather caused the vessel to roll and pitch despite the master’s efforts to alleviate the motion by altering course and speed. This set in motion a “domino effect” whereby cargo units progressively broke free and shifted, resulting in extensive damage to ship structure and cargo, with a number of units being lost overboard.

In its latest publication of the 'Lessons Learned' series, the UK Club presents an incident of liquid cargo contamination during tank cleaning onboard a tanker. Dealing with the contaminated cargo required a very expensive process of separate storage, refining at an alternative port and on-carriage on board another vessel.

UK P&I Club informed that significant insurance damage claims can be made if a bulk cargo is damaged, because of leakage of the bilge system into a loaded bulk cargo hold. To reduce the chance of such cargo damage, operators are advised to inspect and test the cargo hold bilge system as part of the routine pre-loading checks of the cargo holds.

All hatch covers were opened when the vessel was at anchor and waiting for an available berth. This was to ensure the vessel was gas free since fumigation had been carried out in all cargo holds at the loading port. When the cargo hatch covers were removed, it was found that cargo in holds 1,2,3,4 and 7 had been damaged by water.

In a latest publication by UK P&I Club, Captain David Nichol describes a cargo damage case involving a bulk carrier, as a result from insufficient maintenance of the bilge system valves and the crew's wrong estimation of the ingress alarm system.