Container Shipping Groups Issue Guidance on Cargo Safety Practices
Five cargo handling organizations published guidance and a checklist on international packing standards to improve safety practices for freight containers. The groups said they are concerned by a rise in container fires aboard ships. The guidance covers the United Nations’ Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU). The checklist details “actions and responsibilities” for those in charge of packing cargo in freight containers to help reduce “serious injuries” among shipping crews and port staff.
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“Consistent, widespread and diligent adherence to the CTU Code by all parties within global CTU supply chains would significantly reduce these types of incidents,” the Container Owners Association, the Global Shippers Forum, the International Cargo Handling Coordination Association, the TT Club and the World Shipping Council said in a Sept. 14 emailed news release.
Besides container fires, the groups also pointed to other incidents that may be caused by not following the CTU Code, including container stack failures, vehicle rollovers, train derailments, internal cargo collapses and pest contamination. The organizations said they will push for regulatory changes to improve the “clarity, application, implementation and enforcement” of the CTU Code and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code.
Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Michael Khouri said the commission plans to focus more on seeking out cargo ship violators and enforcing penalties for safety issues. Speaking during a Sept. 14 conference hosted by the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America, Khouri said “mis-declared” and “hazardous cargoes” stowed below deck are problematic. “Due to the dangerous nature of the cargo, they’re catching fire and imperiling other cargo, the crew and the ship itself,” Khouri said. “We welcome the help of ocean carriers and the [ocean freight forwarder] community to address these dangerous situations.”