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London-based mutual insurer TT Club believes the recent investigation into the break-up of the MSC Napoli containership gives further proof that shippers need to accurately declare the weight of their containers.
The United Kingdom’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report into the MSC Napoli incident found that misdeclaration of the weights and contents of containers was a contributory factor to the accident.
The report highlighted the difference between the declared and actual weights for the 660 containers stowed on deck, and the fact that 7 percent of those containers were in the wrong position or declared as the wrong container, although this is actually within the industry norm of 10 percent.
“The report draws attention to the fact that shippers of containers are sometimes unable to weigh containers before shipment because they lack the facilities. Furthermore they are discouraged from doing so by factors such as import taxes, loading restrictions, and rail and road weight restrictions,” said Peregrine Storrs-Fox, risk management director at the TT Club. ”The fact that many shippers or consolidators do not have easy access to weighing facilities, should not mean they loose sight of the significant safety implications of an overweight container even before it is loaded on board a ship.”
The MAIB report also found that the most likely reason for incorrect placing of containers on deck is to accommodate declared dangerous goods.
“These findings simply underline the TT Club's continuing concern that cargo weight and hazardous details are habitually misdeclared,” Storrs-Fox said. “Although it was not seen as a primary cause of the accident, the MAIB report does state that misdeclaration erodes or eliminates existing safety margins; and it also points out that only in container shipping is the weight of the cargo unknown.”
The full MAIB report is available at: www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources/Napoli.pdf. — Simon Heaney
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