Our colleagues at the UK P&I Club have recently published edition No. 7 in their loss-prevention series "Carefully to Carry". It looks at the problems encountered in shipping containers - particularly the stresses caused to stacks in heavy seas - and contains much useful advice on lashing and securing systems. It also considers the difficulties that arise when the careful vessel planning is disrupted because a heavily loaded container - planned for a lower tier - arrives late and therefore has to be stowed higher up than is really advisable.
Non-vessel-operators will also find items of interest: the problems of shipping thiourea dioxide and the risks associated with the carriage of apparently innocuous expandable polymeric beads are discussed; and the editors also provide useful information about the carriage of pharmaceuticals in temperaturecontrolled conditions.
Both the extent and pace of growth in container volumes have put strains on a wide range of operational procedures and the physical hardware employed to handle the steel boxes, particularly onboard ships. Attention to numerous factors is needed to avoid repeated casualties.
