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TT Club welcomes crackdown on rogue shippers

[ August 8, 2019   //   ]

The TT Club has welcomed moves by a number of container lines to discourage shippers from mis-declaring hazardous cargoes, following a spate of container ship fires in recent months.

The international transport insurer says it has growing concerns about the lax cargo packing practices and erroneous, sometimes fraudulent, declaration of cargoes. Under its Cargo Integrity and #Fit4Freight schemes, the  Club has been collaborating with to highlight on-going risks, including severe ship fires, arising from poorly packed and declared cargo.

Now, the lines are strengthening their inspection procedures and imposing fines on those shippers found to have mis-declared.

TT Club’s risk management director Peregrine Storrs-Fox, commented, “Clearly, the shipper has primary responsibility to declare fully and honestly so that carriers are able to take appropriate actions to achieve safe transport. Since this is not always the case, carriers have to put in place increasingly sophisticated and costly control mechanisms screen booking information and physically inspect shipments.”

Penalties on shippers who fail to follow the rules should be applauded and government enforcement agencies should be encouraged to take action to deter poor practices further, he added.

 

 

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