An analysis of insurance claims records su[ds_preview]ggests that 65% of damages to cargo result from poorly packed, blocked or secured cargo in Cargo Transport Units (CTUs), particularly freight containers. Industry players aim to raise awareness of incorrect packing in the whole supply chain.
»Yet this points to only a fraction of the extent of a significant safety problem surrounding poor packing« states TT Club‘s Risk Management Director, Peregrine Storrs-Fox. »TT Club, along with our fellow industry representatives are concerned that preventable incidents, both on land (road and rail) and at sea, arise from badly packed CTUs. The safety of workers, particularly those unloading units at destination, is also at considerable risk. Safe industry packing and securing guidance must be disseminated and followed.«
The importance of awareness across the entire supply chain of these dangers is a point also emphasised by Chris Welsh, Secretary General of Global Shippers Forum (GSF): »The responsibility of all those working in the supply chain, shippers, packers, forwarders, warehouse operators and transport providers of all modes and in all countries is clearly set out in the Code. This responsibility for the safety of cargo loads and those handling them does not cease when the doors of the trailer or container are closed.«
When the European Shipping Week will take place in Brussels from 27 February to 2 March, delegates will focus on the correct packing of Cargo Transport Units and the safety issues that result from poor work practices. The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Kitack Lim, and Magda Kopczynska from the European Commission’s DG MOVE, which is the directorate responsible for freight transport safety within the EU, will join industry leaders to speak at a seminar on Monday 27 February, arranged by the Global Shippers Forum, cargo handling group ICHCA, international freight insurer TT Club and liner shipping organisation World Shipping Council (WSC).
»It is now over two years since the three UN bodies that sponsored the CTU Code approved its content,« comments ICHCA’s Captain Richard Brough. »While a non-mandatory Code of Practice, it is now thoroughly referenced in the IMDG Code. The entire freight industry must recognise that this detailed guidance may now be seen as representing industry best practice.«
