A large container ship was involved in a collision, as a result of which many containers were lost overboard and a large number of others damaged. Some of the containers belonged to the owner of the ship, while others were owned or operated by other shipping lines and were being carried under slot-charter or similar arrangements, but were mostly insured by the Club. In addition, a number of containers had been despatched by transport operator members of the Club, acting as NVOCs.
Faced with a number of members with insured interests on board, in the initial stages the Club appointed a single surveyor to act impartially on behalf of them all. He was instructed to attend the discharge of the containers, provide a definitive list and make an initial assessment of the extent of damage to each container. Subsequently and because of the complex nature of the liabilities (not unusual with this type of incident) the various aspects of the claim were dealt with by different teams, with strict segregation between them. One team dealt with the containers belonging to the ship's operator, while another handled the claims from the other shipping lines. A third group dealt with the claims from the NVOCs.
The containerised supply chain is well-known for its complexity. TT Club is seeking to ‘call out’ any practice that may undermine safety and preclude certain of outcome within its ‘Cargo Integrity’ / #Fit4Freight campaign. Key targets inevitably relate to shipment, handling and carriage of dangerous goods.
Incident causation is never simple; over the road liabilities in the US now expose a broad range of supply chain stakeholders in potentially surprising ways.
You may think it is Groundhog Day again. TT Club has been highlighting the issue of the boom of a quay crane colliding with a ship for many years. However, it is frustrating to note the continued regularity of this type of incident.
Exis Technologies, with the support of leading shipping and freight insurers, TT Club and UK P&I Club, is announcing its next phase of implementation of its Hazcheck Restrictions Portal at the transport industry's Multimodal 2018 event at Birmingham's NEC today
