1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156 
Why loads must not come uititstueli
Page 63
Page 64
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Bengt Sorensen talks to Tor Line about e hazards of ill-sorted and badly packed cargoes on ferries
IT'S NO GOOD phoning for the fire brigade when you're in the middle of the North Sea". Tor Line, the North Sea ro/ro ferry operator, gives this seemingly self-evident piece of advice to its customers. Self-evident or not, the purpose is to bring home to operators the great dangers which can attend hazardous cargoes at sea.
That also should be selfevident but Tor Line's steve doring manager at Immingham, David Lucey, tells some cautionary tales which prove other wise. Leaking tanks, faulty valves, bad packing, insecure cargo and many other factors could all sooner or later cause tragedy at sea.
Since the beginning of this year there has been a Statutory Instrument in operation to cover the safe carriage of dangerous goods at sea.
The Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods) Rules 1978 S.I. No 1543, which came into operation on December 29, 1978 make it unlawful for dangerous goods to be offered for shipment in a freight container unless the person responsible for packing the goods furnishes the owner or master of the ship with a certificate of declaration in writing that the goods are contained in sound packages and have been properly packed and secured in a freight container suitable for the goods.
The container packing certificate should embody the following provisions.
El The container was clean, dry and apparently fit to receive goods.
No incompatible substances have been packed into the container.
El All packages have been ex ternally inspected for damage and only sound packages packed.
All packages have been properly packed in the container and secured.
11 The container and packages are properly marked and labelled.
I] A Dangerous Goods Declaration has been received for each dangerous goods consignment packed in the container.
Further information on documentation for freight containers can be found in Section 12 of the General Introduction to the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code.
It is important that where dangerous goods are shipped in containers, a "Container Packing Certificate" is produced. Failure to produce the correct documentation can cause delay in acceptance for shipment.
The great problem has always been identifying the person who is ultimately responsible for the hazardous load becoming dangerous. It could be the manufacturer, the shipping agent, the road transport operator or his driver. There is enough law to cover the subject and sufficient scope to bring charges of negligence against any one or every person in that chain.
Documentation there is in abundance, and if followed systems are watertight. The trouble appears to be people who do not work to the book and consequently endanger the lives of others.
While the stevedores will reject unsafe cargoes, they are not always in a position to detect them. A dangerously packed container or tilt trailer may arrive at the ferry terminal under customs seal affixed at an I CD. The seal cannot be broken by noncustoms staff and so a badly packed load may be taken on to a freight deck and out into a Force Ten gale in the North Sea, to the potential danger of the ship's crew.
Badly packed not only means loose or unstable packages. Incompatibility of the contents or drums is much more dangerous. There is a code for packing these commodities but regrettably those who stuff containers or load trailers are not always aware of the code. Negligence also plays a part where "'backstreet" groupage depots load the units and are either ignorant of the regulations or choose to disregard them in the interest of speed.
Even when the trailer has been properly loaded and the documentation has been meticulously completed, all is not always well. Trailers arrive in good condition at the terminal but later than the appointed time.
If the load is likely to be incompatible with those around it on the freight deck, Tor Line refuses to load it. Early arrival with correct documentation is necessary to allow the freight officer to plan the loading.
Leaks in tanks loaded with a petrochemical by-product are less easy to detect than badly packed containers. They may stand in the ferry reception area for 24 hours, often in rain or damp conditions, and drip their contents on to the ground and still be undetected.
Of course the seepage smells but when it is overpowered by the other petrochemical smells or dockside odours, it blends
into the atmosphere and goE undetected. That is until it is o board and at sea with th "hatches battened down. Then both the smell and th danger become apparent art the ferry captain has no alterr ative but to turn round and hea for port with a consequent lo of time for all the other users.
These are not daily occu rences but they are as regular E every ten days — and that is tc many.
Who, then, is to blame? TIculprits are not always th owner-drivers who pull una, companied trailers to the dock Indeed, the names of larp, national and well-known oper tors appear frequently in T( Line's rogues gallery.
The road operator who used by the shipper or the pr, ducer to pull trailers to the docl may technically be responsib for "the vehicle and its load but the responsibility moral rests with the people who ov,.
le tanks and trailers and who iad them. Responsibility for voiding a hazard cannot lightly e passed on a point of law.
Nevertheless transport perators and drivers should ike every precaution to ensure lat cargoes are safe while in )eir care, even though it might ily be to a few minutes or a few Their policy should be to ust no-one, check everything -Id reject any suspect trailer, ink or groupage load.
When an operator accepts a lad he should be certain that he nows the contents. " G rouage" covers anything. One iad could be a mixture of ozens of different, incompatIle, goods and packages.
The expansion of the etrochemical industry in the 3st 20 years has put on the larket a vast quantity of 3emingly innocuous goods and antainers. These are in use daj, in offices and homes and ley are treated as perfectly ge. They are in these circumances but in transit they must a handled with care. Drivers -iould question every consignlent note which he does not 3adily understand. Trade ames do not always indicate le hazardous nature of a corn The same care must be exersed when collecting import ailers. There is apparently no iternational maritime law on' azardous goods so that what lay be -safe" under a foreign ag is not always considered as ife in the UK. The advice is be .3,rtain that the contents of the ,ad are easily identified and left hazardous category is iown to be acceptable.
Hazardous loads account for out five per cent of Tor Line's affic — an important five per 3nt in both financial and safety irms. Whatever happens on le safety aspect, there is little aubt that rates for all traffic will on increase.
Tor Line's managing director. aul Insley recently told shipars and forwarders "Trailer 'lipping rates today are 50 per .3nt down on just a few years )o. This has been the effect of arce competition, yet from the )ipper's viewpoint represents a .3ry transient gain only — since le industry has to earn an Jequate return for future !placement of vessels."
Mr Insley does not visualise iy great development of seaDing hardware, but he does (pect significant changes of nd-side operations. He be.ives the real challenge is on le land — a view which many Try operators in Britain and mainland Europe share.
Tor Line's md was directing his remarks at haulage operators principally but no doubt had the. infrastructure in mind also. He believes that the door-to-door facility which ro-ro services provide will develop enormously in the next five years, with vehicle and vessel operators cooperating much more closely. Tor Line has committed an investment in excess of £50m to back its judgement.
Despite the competitive nature of ro-ro ferry services, Mr Insley says that there are signs of rationalisation and increased co-operation in the ferry business. He and other operators are more concerned with the road network, but the Immingham port seems better catered for than most.
A major redevelopment of the roads in the area is due to be completed by the end of this year and we can be sure that not only the local residents and environmentalists will applaud the tape-cutting ceremonies. Haulage operators are punished by poor road facilities adjacent to ports in terms of fuel, time and costs "For want of a road a ferry was lost." Mr Insley believes too that much time and consequent finance could be saved if there were better "shore-to-ship'' communications. He says that improved communications would lead to better understanding between shippers, shipping lines and transport operators. There have always been weak links in this chain of communication, so improvement should be a high priority today.
Tor Line terminal will benefit immensely from the Humber Bridge and the attendant road network now almost complete. Even now it attracts traffic from the industrial areas north of the West Midlands. On the south, its Felixstowe operations are equally attractive, it seems, with both freight and passenger transport operators.
The 18-hour run between East Anglia and Gothenburg apparently does not deter either haulage or own-account operators. Their outward traffics range from reproduction furniture to cereals and on the way back, from Swedish whitewood furniture to cheese.
British drivers are undoubtedly an adaptable species. Leaving the relative heat of Britain, they spend a week in Scandinavia as far north as the Arctic Circle on shop deliveries and lifts.
Their last real comfortable night is spent on a Tor Line vessel, where food and entertainment is guaranteed. Not that they are able to take full advantage of the cuisine or casino: overnight allowances do not stretch to luxury living. "Tor Line do look after us on board,I was told. "Ashore it's a different story."
Unbelievably, there are men travelling about Scandinavia today with a 24-hour subsistence allowance of £6.10. Even the most modest accommodation with breakfast costs £18.00 in the Nordic countries. Lunch and evening meal run to another £10 a day and in a cold, sometimes freezing climate, hot food is essential for the driver's health, comfort and safety. This is a matter which needs examination.
Operators will argue that the men use sleeper cabs — they do, but sleeping in the cab in sub-zero conditions is not a recommended practice. There are men who sleep in nonsleeper cabs so that they can eat. They run the engine throughout the night to keep the heater working. Probably the cost, apart from the waste of fuel and engine wear, is more than a yen,/ acceptable subsistence payment.
Tor Line turns its vessels round in two hours at Felixstowe and for this reason it welcomes accompanied traffic. An increase on the 50 per cent accompanied traffic would be welcome, I was told. Certainly the spacious accommodation in both cabins and dining-room could cope with more drivers with ease.
Most of the traffic I saw moving between Felixstowe and Gothenburg was in rigid boxvans. There seems to be scope for using collection and delivery tractive units to pull trailers to and from both ports. This would mean that the two days spent travelling on the ferry could be more productively used. It would also eliminate the ridiculous subsistence situation and yet it would retain the fast turn round facility with a trustworthy company man in charge of the load at both ends.
The North Sea traffic does not live with the threat of a possibility of a rail-only tunnel — however unlikely that may be on the Dover-Calais run, so there is plenty of scope to expand and refine the door-to-door services which road and ro-ro provide.