By Jennifer Chang 

With the continuous growth of global trade, container shipping has become a crucial pillar of the modern economy. However, this has brought forth serious challenges in the safe transport of hazardous goods. According to a report from a UK shipping-related website, despite efforts by the shipping industry and various governments to collaborate, inadequate declaration, non-declaration, or incorrect labeling of hazardous goods continues to lead to fires and explosions, resulting in casualties among crew members and transport personnel. The World Shipping Council (WSC), representing container shipping, is actively taking additional measures to enhance cargo safety standards, safeguarding the lives of workers in the supply chain, as well as the environment and the integrity of global shipping.

Over the past decade, the number of container ship fires has continued to rise, resulting in a significant number of casualties and property losses. According to the "2023 Allianz Safety and Shipping Review," there have been a total of 64 reported container ship fires in the past five years. TTClub estimates that a serious ship fire occurs approximately every sixty days, with a key factor being the shipper's failure to declare, incorrect declaration, or improper packaging of hazardous goods. Despite comprehensive and explicit international regulations on the transport of hazardous goods, these goods are still either incorrectly declared or not declared at all. This complicates the process of detection, potentially leading to ship fires and making firefighting efforts even more challenging. For instance, in 2022, maritime fire incidents increased by over 17% compared to the previous year.

Addressing the issue of misdeclaration of cargo can indeed serve as the first line of defense, but it requires industry-wide solidarity to plug the existing gaps. All stakeholders need to play their part. Shipowners and crew members hope that countries will impose stricter regulatory measures on shippers to prevent the transportation of unsafe goods. At the same time, conducting inspections and assessments at the booking stage is crucial, as the desire to avoid carrying unsafe cargo should outweigh the desire to simply transport goods.

To address this issue, the WSC has put forward a voluntary initiative known as the Cargo Safety Program. This program will rely on a digital solution composed of a universal screening tool operated by independent third-party providers, a verified shipper database, and an approved container inspection company database. The core functionality of this system involves filtering booking information using a comprehensive keyword database and risk algorithms, marking high-risk bookings for further investigation. Through ongoing checks and learning from experience, these will be used to enhance the screening tools, particularly in identifying and rectifying hazardous situations before containers carrying dangerous goods enter the supply chain. WSC has already begun seeking highly reputable independent third-party providers to develop this digital tool and manage the process of cargo screening and inspection programs. This universal safety approach will significantly reduce risks associated with undeclared, misdeclared, labeled, or packaged dangerous goods throughout the entire supply chain, while streamlining compliance with national and international regulations for transporting hazardous materials.

Appreciate if you could share TGL Blog among your friends who are interested in first-hand market information of supply chain and updated economic incidents.