Logistics Risks in Shipping

Gerrit Uitbeijerse, Senior Cargo Expert and Master Mariner | Global Cargo Consultancy Management

FARMD (November 2012) | At Global Cargo Consultancy Management, we are regularly saddened by the fact that many people in the agricultural sector are not familiar with today’s logistical requirements in regard to care of cargo and loss prevention.

The owner of the goods being transported has a legal duty of care towards said goods. In practice, this has meant that agricultural products such as coffee, cocoa, rice and other commodities that have to be transported over long distances often suffer risks that lead to quality deterioration and ultimately large claims to the cargo companies. Many of these claims however are generally unavoidable. As the transport companies’ and shipping lines business whether, bookings or data transfers, has become computerized and more often than not online, real knowledge of commodities and their handling has been lost. As opposed to specialized commodity-specific handling, all products are simply being handled as ‘boxes’ with no concern over their content.

There are a few factors that should be kept in mind: the time of years; seasons that will occur during transport; the mode of transport; packing; stowage; and final handling are all important. When booking transport, it is important that the transporter of shipping line be provided with detailed requirements on how cargo needs to be cared for. If provided with clear directions then in the case of the goods being damaged on arrival the company can be held accountable as to whether they carried out the instructions provided adequately or not. Unfortunately, we often observe people providing the direction: ‘to be stowed below the waterline’ and/or ‘underdeck stow required’.  These are both old-fashioned directions underpinned by the mistaken belief that there are the cooler areas on the shop.  However, on modern ships these types of directions can actual cause the quality of the goods being stored to be compromised.

A much better direction for modern ships is: Away from heat/cool stow, sun and weather protected. Almost all ships these days have a double hull which effectively “squares” the hatch space for ISO-size sea containers. This means that there are “idle” spaces at the sides and in the double bottom which are generally used for oil tanks.  When Marine Fuel Oil Tanks they can be heated in excess of 60˚C or 140˚F to ensure they stay liquid. Sea containers with agricultural products in are generally heavier than other containers and so stowed at the bottom of the hatch hold. Thus with a heated tank underneath or next to a stowed container goods are often delivered “pre-boiled” or wet due to condensation.  Additionally, once at port terminal, laden containers are often not in a warehouse but stored in the open and so directly influenced by weather. It would be possible to avoid this by creating shadows; placing one container on top of another.

The diagram below indicates how to properly stow containers on board and mitigate a variety of risks:

The diagram indicates the risks associated with outdoor terminal port storage as experience in the Tropics:

When goods are improperly stowed there is an increased opportunity for damage.  The first picture shows damage to coffee and cocoa, and the second picture shows the issues within containers in this case of tobacco.

It should be noted that had paper added on top of the bales as protection against condensation there would have been far less damage.

We hope that this quick article gives information that leads to risk mitigation and increased care for important cargo.