Alan Peat A SHIPPER who does not properly declare a shipment of hazardous material as “dangerous cargo” is liable for any damage caused. The local consensus following the Sea Elegance explosion off the coast of Kwa Zulu Natal - seemingly caused by an undeclared container load of the extremely dangerous pool chemical calcium hypochlorite - is that blame lies with the shipper. “It was declared as calcium hypochlorite on the ship’s manifest,” said Captain Bill Dernier, head of the SA Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), which was the investigative team briefed with determining the cause of the shipboard blast which caused a serious fire in the aft section of the ship. “But, in South Africa, the shipper is liable if he has not clearly indicated that this product is dangerous.” The insurance and claims manager of a major shipping line agreed. “The shipper has to declare to the carrier the hazardous nature of the cargo,” he told FTW. The shipper has got to make known the hazardous code for the cargo - which is contained in the hazardous rule book for each different type of commodity, and describes its potential for explosion, inflammability or the emission of intoxicating gases. This is necessary, the insurance expert added, “because a shipping line can’t be expected to know all the types of hazardous cargoes.” The line’s insurance manager also suggested that the shipper was unlikely to have insurance to cover the costs of the aftermath of his container exploding. “Marine policies exclude this sort of liability,” he said, “only covering damage to the actual cargo belonging to the insured party.”
