Captain David Routledge
PROTECTION AND Indemnity (P&I) surveyors are very important in the shipping business. They perform a role that is vital in helping to maintain the safety of ships and cargoes and helping ship owners to be compensated for losses at sea.
Managing Director of the Maritime Consultancy Limited, Captain David Routledge said these surveyors carry out assessment on containers on behalf of P& I clubs to aid ship owners worldwide.
He said after an accident involving loss of or damage to cargo at sea, the captain of the vessel would make a report to the P&I club at the port and then the surveyors would go and survey the containers to determine the cause of the accident.
"These can vary from one single container to cases where all the containers stacked in a forward hold of the ship collapsed or several containers and flat racks broke loose in heavy weather and fell on others making a spectacular pile of damaged containers," he explained.
The Managing Director added that damage to containers could occur due to poor stacking, corrosion, improperly secured cargo in them breaking loose and improper handling by stevedores, among others.
He said among the factors taken into consideration are the different types of containers, which are made from different materials as well as the use of the containers.
Captain Routledge said in some cases containers are made with aluminium, steel and fibreglass.
Giving some specifications on the types/uses of containers Captain Routledge cited examples such as open top, flat rack, general purpose, insulated containers, refrigerated containers, bulk containers, tank containers, open sided containers, ventilated containers, among others.
Tank containers are usually in a steel framework measuring 20ft long by 8ft wide by 8' 6" high. They are constructed of stainless steel. They are generally either International Maritime Organisation type II or type I and have a total water capacity of 19,000 litres or 24,000 litres. They are used to transport, potable spirits, liquid foods, and juices and other liquids both hazardous and non-hazardous.
"The main types of container surveys are where there is damage to the container and its contents or where in a reefer container the proper temperature has not been maintained according to the goods being transported and as a consequence the goods are spoilt," Captain Routledge pointed out.
Stressing the need for containers to be properly stowed on ships, he said many times there are accidents because "containers may be stuffed at an inland depot where the people doing the work may never
have seen the sea let alone know about the forces involved when a ship is rolling and pitching heavily in a rough sea".
"They stow heavy pieces of machinery and only think of them needing to be steadied on the back of a truck. I once saw a container, which had a heavy piece of machinery, which had broken loose. The machine was hanging out of a hole in the side of the container over the sea. Before it came to rest it had battered the inboard side of the container and damaged the container sitting next to it on the deck," the P&I surveyor explained.
