After the packer shuts the doors on a cargo transport unit and applies the security seal, under normal circumstances no-one will see inside a container until it reaches its destination. The cargo transport unit will be delivered to the marine terminal where it will wait its turn to be hoisted aboard a ship with hundreds of others, and the sea journey will begin.

The position where dangerous goods are stowed on the ship is carefully selected by specialists called cargo planners, and the safety of the ship depends on their decisions. The position is chosen by the cargo planner based on the dangerous goods information given to him by the shipping line booking staff originating from the shipper or forwarder, and the container packer.

This is safety critical information for the ship. The data passes through many hands to the cargo planner so it is vital that the data is correct and comprehensive and does not get omitted, altered or shortened. This could lead the planner to create a stowage that makes the ship unsafe.

It is of absolute and utmost importance that packers declare EXACTLY what items of dangerous goods are in the consignments they have booked. There must be no hidden dangerous goods. There must be absolutely NO QUESTION that all dangerous goods have been declared to the shipping line and the identity and details are included on the transport document.

If there are one, two, three or more types of dangerous goods in a freight container the packer must tell the shipping line about each and every one.

Only with this assurance can the cargo planners stow the cargo on the ship in a safe way.

In view of the frequency and severity of incidents, the IMO has set out guidance⁵⁹ in relation to inspection programmes for cargo transport units, encouraging governments to undertake CTU inspections and report their findings.

A number of container shipping lines have additionally implemented inspection programmes in order both to enhance safety aboard their ships and improve good practice amongst shippers.

Further the Cargo Incident Notification System (CI NS) was launched in September 2011 to increase safety in the supply chain, reduce the number of cargo incidents on board ships and on land, and highlight the risks caused by certain cargoes and/or packing failures. CINS enables analysis of operational information on cargo and container incidents which lead to injury or loss of life, loss or serious damage of assets and environmental concerns.

Undeclared dangerous goods are totally unacceptable for carriage by sea

-

⁵⁹ IMO circular MSC.1/Circ.1442 issued 1 June 2012

Planning where to put containers on a container ship is a complex and precise operation. The planners will choose a location for every individual dangerous goods container based on what they know about the design of the ship and what they have been told about the dangerous goods by the shipper and packer. Containers may be buried deep in the hold of a ship, positioned on deck where the crew can carry out daily monitoring, stowed as far as possible from the crew’s quarters, stowed where they will not be exposed to heat, or stowed away from other dangerous goods.

Stowage means “where on the ship” a container is put. This is an important decision that can only be taken when the design of the ship and the dangerous goods cargo details are known. Bearing in mind that turnaround in a single port call may run into thousands of containers on and off a 20,000 TEU ultra large container ship, this is a challenging operation.

Despite the numbers, the cargo planners choose an exact location on the ship for every dangerous goods shipping container, based on the data provided by the shipper. Cargoes that have to be monitored must be located on deck, heat sensitive cargoes must be located where they will not be affected by sources of heat, and incompatible cargoes must be physically kept apart.

Segregation as applied to ship stowage means not loading containers carrying incompatible dangerous goods next to or close to each other. They will be located at a distance apart on the ship⁶⁰. The rules are strictly adhered to in order to minimise a reaction in dangerous goods in one container spreading to dangerous goods in adjacent containers. Some substances are considered such a high risk combination they must be separated on the ship by at least two fireproof walls.

Despite the fact that dangerous goods appear visually to be intrinsically safe in their containers, evidence from ship fires is very much the opposite. When involved in fires on ships, heat inside containerised cargo builds up to the ignition point of the cargo surprisingly quickly, and being encased in the container, the fire fighting water or CO2 is prevented from reaching the seat of fire. Once a fire takes hold on a ship it is very difficult to contain, and below deck they are practically impossible to access.

Knowing exactly what dangerous goods are in a container, and where they are on the ship is paramount in the minds of ship planners and ship’s crews, and all depends on the accuracy of the information supplied by the shipper and the packer.

-

⁶⁰ IMDG Code, 2020 Edition Amendment 40-20, Chapters 7.1 and 7.2

Some substances are sensitive to heat and will begin an uncontrollable polymerizing or self-heating reaction if exposed to raised temperatures. Stabilization and thermal control are used to counter-act this, but locating them on the ship where they will not be exposed to local sources of heat is critical. Heat can come from three sources:

Heat from the ship’s machinery

The largest container ships are 400 metres long and carry over 20,000 TEU (20' equivalent containers). Ship’s engines and other machinery needed to power such ships are equally massive, and generate huge amounts of heat in steam pipes, exhaust pipes and fuel heaters that can be adjacent to cargo carrying spaces.

Heat from the sun

Contents of containers carried on deck that are fully exposed to the sun can also reach very high temperatures and in tropical regions temperatures of up to 60^°C have been recorded by monitoring devices inside cargo transport units.

Heat from other cargo

Some cargoes are carried in tanks at an elevated temperature to keep them from solidifying from the liquid to the solid state. Cargo stowed adjacent to them will be directly affected.

-

⁶¹ www.cinsnet.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CINS-DG-Stowage-Considerations-Final.pdf

Ship planners use sophisticated planning software to assist them handling the huge numbers of containers involved in ship port operations when creating a stowage plan in compliance with the IMDG Code rules. However, that software, the sophisticated resources of the shipping line and the skill and experience of the ship planners is useless and ineffective if the basic information provided by the shipper is wrong, or there is information missing, whether accidentally or deliberately.

A more detailed and extensive description of the issues concerning stowage of dangerous goods on board ships can be found in the CI NS publication, “Safety Considerations for Ship Operators Related to Risk-Based Stowage of Dangerous Goods on Containerships”.⁶¹

-

 ⁶¹www.cinsnet.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CINS-DG-Stowage-Considerations-Final.pdf

We hope that you find this guide book helpful. If you are a shipper, apart from classifying your cargo accurately, is important for you to ensure that the packaging you have selected is suitably robust for the rigours of a maritime journey. As well as being subjected to the vibration and stop/start forces of road or rail journey to and from a port, your cargo transport unit may be loaded onto and discharged from several ships before reaching its destination, and be subjected to the lateral and vertical centrifugal forces of ships at sea.

Beyond that we hope we have shown how important it is that the information and documentation provided by shippers or forwarding agents to the shipping line is honest, comprehensive and accurately identifies the Proper Shipping Names of all the dangerous goods in the consignment along with packaging and quantities, and that the signature on the shipper’s declaration is more than just a meaningless convention.

Shipping line booking staff have a responsibility to understand the nature of the dangerous goods and their potential hazards, and to insist that full details are provided, particularly for N.O.S. substances where the substances have an unlimited range of variable characteristics that do not appear in the IMDG Code as a simple look up.

Cargo transport unit packers have an over-arching responsibility and legal duty to ensure that dangerous goods packed for shipment by sea are secured against movement, not leaking, and packed in such a way that they are able to withstand the predictable forces that will be exerted on them. Packers are required to issue a signed packing certificate to confirm compliance with all aspects of the IMDG Code.

The supply chain demands more and more speed, electronic semi-automatic systems for booking and organising unit load movements are evolving and migrating into every aspect of logistics. Containerised movements are being concentrated into a smaller number of ever-larger ships and maritime terminals. Higher traffic volume is the aim of all organisations, and there is less time to scrutinise individual consignment details, and consequently the system demands a higher standard of professionalism from those processing the data.

UK P&I Club and TT Club offer this guide to encourage and support all those seeking a higher level of understanding and professionalism in the safe transport of dangerous goods by sea.