TT Club says much still to be done on maritime safety

LONDON, U.K.—According to the TT Club in a release, while the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Safety Committee (IMO MSC) has made “significant action” in finalizing work on two measures for  standards of safety in the unit load industry, be it maritime or land-based, they are but two stakes that begin to mark out the ground for what needs to done in developing safety throughout the supply chain.

The adoption by the IMO of the amendment to SOLAS (the Convention for Safety of Life at Sea) concerning verification of gross mass for containers is welcomed.  Such verification will become mandatory in July 2016. The implications of this modest change are reverberating through the international transport community, emphasising as it does shippers’ responsibility to declare gross mass accurately and clarifying the means by which this can be done.

Much work remains to be done by the relevant governmental authorities worldwide to deliver uniform enforcement. Yet prior to this, consistency of both ways and means of carrying out either of the two methods of weight verification outlined in the amendment must be developed throughout the supply chain and across the globe.  Perhaps even more importantly, those contracting to carry or handle container cargo need urgently to identify how each will develop compliance. The IMO’s move has implications for all parties involved in unit load transportation.

The second welcome ‘stake’ is the approval, with immediate global effect as a non-mandatory Code of Practice, of the CTU Code and its related ‘Informative Material’. While only some jurisdictions may enshrine the code in national legislation, the entire freight industry must recognise that this detailed guidance for the safe packing of unit loads may now be used in litigation to demonstrate good practice.  The TT Club wishes to stress forcefully that all parties need to develop ways to implement and encourage compliance with the CTU Code.*

“Increased levels of training of those employed by shippers, consolidators, warehouses and depots to pack containers, road trailers and other transport units is now essential,” said TT Club’s Risk Management Director, Peregrine Storrs-Fox, who has for some time been drawing the industry’s attention to the consequences, including bodily injuries, of inappropriate load distribution and badly secured cargo within CTUs (Cargo Transport Units).

TT Club is amongst those in the international shipping community who are urging attention to be focused on the findings of the MARIN ‘Lashing@Sea’ investigation. While the issues highlighted in that report of cargo weight are in hand, others relating to ship planning, lashing, and dynamic ship-board information are extant. The recent initiative by ICHCA to hold a seminar on ‘Container Lashing and Securing’ in Rotterdam (10^th December http://www.etouches.com/ichcacontainerlashingseminar ) *** is welcomed in this regard. The event will explore what the industry as a whole can do to reduce the risks and inefficiencies associated with current container lashing and securing practices, said the Club.