P&I club calls for greater vigilance over misdeclared containers
Jon Guy, insurance correspondent | 8 March 2018
Yves Vandenborn, director of loss prevention, Standard P&I Club has said shipping firms have to become more aware of who they are dealing with if they are to clamp down on the misdeclaration of dangerous cargoes.
Yves Vandenborn spoke to Fairplay as the P&I club issued an in-depth report on research into the growing threat of misdeclared and dangerous cargoes.
The report said shipping firms had to up their game when it came to how containers were booked. Vandenborn said the booking processes had to be upgraded if companies were to effectively combat misdeclaration and fraud.
“The issue with dangerous cargo is that while it might be dangerous, it still needs to be shipped,” he explained. “We are not saying these cargoes should not be transported but they should be declared and therefore the correct risk management steps can be put into place for their carriage.”
However, there is an increasing number of cases where the content of containers is deliberately misdeclared by owners looking to cut the cost of their shipment. This leads to the potential for serious incidents if the cargo becomes unstable or leaks.
“All too often the shipping firm will say that the freight forwarder has the responsibility to check the credentials of the cargo owner,” Vandenborn said, “but that is not the case: as the shipping firm you have to ensure you know the client, and certainly if it is a new client.
“You need to check to ensure it actually exists or if it is simply a front company for a business that has a record for misdeclaration.
“If you went to an airport and a friend handed you a case and asked you to carry it in a plane for a friend of theirs, you wouldn’t simply take it; you would ask who this friend was, what was in the case and why it needed to be transported. And you may well refuse to take it unless you were provided with proof of the friend’s identity. However, shipping firms are still not taking the necessary steps to confirm the identity of the firms that are asking them to transport their goods.”
Vandenborn, said that while the club’s report provided a range of steps that could be taken, the key issues were with the need for more vigilance, greater training for the booking staff, and the potential to incentivise staff for the identification of misdeclared cargo.