TT club warns of the lack of training by land workers prior to shipment to sea
TT Club, the transport insurer, has called for the training of those handling dangerous goods on land prior to shipment by sea to be mandated under the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code.
The demand came in support of a proposal by the UK delegation at a meeting last week of the IMO’s sub-committee on Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and Containers (DSC).
The consequences of badly packed, mis-declared and inaccurately labelled hazardous cargoes in terms of loss of life, damage to vessels and destruction of goods, argues TT continues to be at unacceptable levels.
Speaking at the IMO session, TT’s risk management director, Peregrine Storrs-Fox was adamant that such training was necessary and logical to support compliance with the IMDG Code obligations.
“Historically, IMO members have been opposed to such a move on the grounds that the organisation has no jurisdiction on land. However, TT Club contends that training of shore-based operatives is vital in increasing safety throughout the transport chain and urges national maritime administrations and ship registries to support the proposal,” he said.
In support of his case Storrs-Fox cited evidence from a host of incidents over recent years, in which sub-standard handling of dangerous goods has been proved, or is strongly suspected to have been the cause of fires on vessels and leakages from containers resulting in significant damage and loss of life.
Statistics also bolster the case. A modern container ship is bound to carry a cocktail of chemicals. Industry figures show that between 5 and 10% of an average container ship’s payload is made up of declared hazardous goods.
