A recent accident in which an empty freight container came away from a ship's crane and came down 'from a great height' - fortunately without causing any injury - has re-ignited the whole issue of ships' cranes.
Reefer containers are regularly found with a white powder on aluminium components. For many years there has been a debate: Is this caused by cleaning techniques and materials, or by the use of low quality alloys?
TT Talk - Growing convergence of interests
04/03/2011
It can be difficult to have relevant perspective when developments inevitably take time to come to fruition, but the last six months has been quite remarkable in the maturing of safety awareness in the unit load industry. This is most welcome, since the Club has regularly, over the last decade and more, raised concerns from its claims experience relating to the correct stowage and securing within 'cargo transport units' (CTU), and declaration of weight and contents.
There is a separate initiative underway in the ILO to update the 'IMO/ILO/UN ECE Guidelines for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTUs)' which were last reviewed in 1997. This further enhances safety and will assist in the process of ensuring that cargo is properly loaded and secured within CTUs.
Mike Compton, Technical Advisor to ICHCA International, provides the following commentary on the current IMO process.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) recently published its report into the loss of 31 20ft containers from the deck of 'Pacific Adventurer'.
Each year, the Federal Maritime Commission in the US receives a substantial number of complaints from individuals who have experienced various problems with their international household goods shipment.
TT Talk - Hazardous gases in containers
17/02/2011
Following questions in the Netherlands Parliament, a number of Government Departments in that country have combined to implement an agreement on the joint monitoring of hazardous gases in import containers.
TT Talk - Amendment 35-10 of the IMDG Code
01/02/2011
Approved by IMO's Maritime Safety Committee last May, Amendment 35-10 of the IMDG Code, entered its transitional year in January 2011 (meaning that operators are able to apply its provisions) and will come into mandatory force on 1 January 2012.
TT Talk - Focus on smuggling
01/02/2011
This item looks at two of the nastiest undersides of modern smuggling, people and drugs, which potentially impact on anyone involved in international transport. For reasons of space, we concentrate on the United Kingdom; we will look at the international position in a future edition.
TT Talk - Risky carriage
01/02/2011
The Club was recently asked for its opinion on the carriage of single rough hewn blocks of marble in 20' dry units. It also appeared that the true mass of the cargo is generally estimated - frequently inaccurately - at values in excess of 20 tonnes. The loading operation was primitive. Some blocks were loaded directly onto the container floor. At best bearers up to a maximum of 6m long by 200mm square were inserted.