Cause and prevention of container loss at sea

The causes of losing containers overboard are numerous and often complex, though very often basic operational errors are a factor. The consequences of container loss should justify time, cost and effort by ship owners and operators in reviewing and improving preventative measures. GARD P&I club has put together a fine article which tackles this issue. 

Introduction

This is the second of a two part article focusing on container losses at sea. Part one looked at the greater impact container loss at sea is having on shipowners and operators and this Insight reviews some of the causes and what can be done to prevent them. We aim to offer some new insights on this topic covered previously in our Compilation on Container Carriage.

Causes 

Heavy weather

Quite apart from casualties, resulting in containers being lost overboard due to e.g. grounding, foundering or collision, heavy weather is often the most common factor resulting in stack collapse during otherwise routine voyages. In the SVENDBORG MAERSK waves of 10 metres reportedly caused rolling in excess of 40 degrees. The master had reportedly prepared for bad weather but did not foresee how much worse the actual weather and wave situation turned out to be. Gard’s recent claims experience is that ship handling in heavy weather is also a relevant factor in losing containers. In one case a master proceeded at full speed in an unsuccessful attempt to outrun a typhoon; and in another, a master failed to heed warnings issued by the IMO relating to synchronous and/or parametric rolling by slowing down in following seas.

Failure to comply with the ship’s Container Securing Manual (CSM)

A more common cause of stack collapse is the failure to comply with limits for stack or tier weights or stack heights stipulated in the ship’s CSM. In some cases we have seen, the CSM itself has not catered for different stability conditions or the use of non-standard containers, such as high cubes. When a container ship is on charter, we have also seen communication breakdowns between the charterer’s container planners and the crew, even when using the same computer stowage planning programme. Charterers will naturally look to optimise stowage, but the crew may be reluctant to intervene and upset tight schedules.

Lashing issues particularly relevant to large container ships

The sheer scale of the lashing arrangements on larger ships makes it difficult for a crew to check them against the CSM and a feeling may prevail that there is little danger to the ship if some containers are lost and that it is charterer’s problem. The larger the ship, the more lashing equipment there is to maintain, which stevedores may have little interest in handling carefully. Maintenance is not an easy task to keep on top of and incidents do occur because of defective equipment.

The increasing number of containers on board has an obvious effect on the time taken to lash and unlash them, much to the concern of charterers. The use of fully automatic locks, such as those designed to disengage when there is a slight slew of the container around its vertical axis, has raised questions as to whether this sort of movement may be reproduced at sea in heavy ...

To read further and to download relevant Guidance and IMO code of practice, click on below link: