Apart from the recent devastating explosion in Beirut, there has been a spate of ro-ro/car carrier fires in recent months, leading to fresh calls for improvements, scrutiny and control in relation to dangerous goods (DG). Container ship fires are always in mind.
As consumer demand and manufacturing production slows in many parts of the world, cargo, either in containers or stripped from transport units, is building up in warehouses, port terminals and inland depots. International freight and logistics insurer, TT Club warns of the additional risk this is bringing operators.
The European Commission estimated that the value of cargo stolen in transit was around EUR8.2 billion per annum. The TT Club has seen an increase in the role fraud is playing in such losses. There is a marked trend in organised crime posing as legitimate operators or using internet cargo clearing sites to facilitate the theft of high value cargo. Perhaps most worrying is that this is global.
Whilst technological advances undoubtedly provide greater operational efficiencies and opportunities for carriers and operators to mitigate their exposure to theft and fraud, unfortunately they equally benefit organised criminal organisations. As invasive cyber-technology becomes more widely available, the TT Club suggests that what has been observed in recent months could be a significant emerging risk to legitimate trade, exposing the operators in the supply chain to economic and commercial damage.
TT Talk - The long game
01/12/2015
As the supply chain industry globally is gearing up to comply with the SOLAS amendment that, from 1 July 2016, requires verified gross mass for every packed container, it is worth reiterating that container weight is just one (relatively small) part of ramping up safety.
TT Talk - Crime: avoid being a statistic
06/12/2016
Cargo theft continues to be a constant threat to the global supply chain and an increasing drain on the economies they serve.
TT Talk - Don't wait - are you prepared?
02/02/2016
Despite publicity about the amendment to SOLAS (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea) requiring that all packed containers have verified gross mass (VGM) stretching back at least five years, many parts of the industry have waited to the eleventh hour before putting individual and collaborative minds to the issue of implementation. With less than five months to mandatory global enforcement on 1 July 2016, it is critical for all stakeholders to engage now.