Poor packing leads to most shipboard fires

Dangerous goods make
up around 10% of all
containerised shipments
worldwide, with poor and
incorrect packing of transport
units contributing to some
65% of cargo damage claims.
This is according to a
technical paper released
by global risk assessment
company, TT Club, titled
The VGM Ruling: A Review
of the Implementation. The
paper highlights that one
of the more serious issues
that continues to blight the
entire shipping industry is
non-compliance in relation
to the transport of restricted
commodities and dangerous
goods.
It is estimated that this
is the root cause of a major
shipboard fire on average
every 60 days and, according
to Peregrine Storrs-Fox, risk
management director for the
TT Club, the riskiest part of a
shipping container’s journey
is before it begins.
He says good packing and
packaging are two key areas
that ensure a shipment arrives
intact. “While feedback from
World Shipping Council
members has shown that 95%
of shipments have a verified
gross mass (VGM) value
since the implementation of
the International Maritime
Organisation’s Safety of Life
at Sea (Solas) regulation
in July last year, there are
still improvements to be
made around the way the
containers are packed,”
Storrs-Fox points out.
According to him,
developments in container
scanning and data analytics
through digitisation offer
“increasingly realistic
opportunities to ensure
that a safe trader will be
approved and the activities
of a dangerous one will be
exposed”.
“However, all stakeholders
need to work together to
safeguard people, cargo,
assets, infrastructure, and
the environment from the
inherent risk of chemicals
and other hazardous
cargoes,” says Storrs-Fox.