21pc of bad boxship accidents from misdisclared cargo, poor packing

MORE than 21 per cent of life-threatening incidents aboard containerships have been linked to misdeclared cargo, mostly involving dangerous goods, and bad packing, reports London's Containerisation International.

The Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS) formed by 10 ocean carriers - five in the top 20 and representing 52 per cent of global cellular capacity, have done a study of 500 potentially life-threatening incidents based on insurance claims.

Half of the incidents were found to result from container packing problems over which the carriers have no control, said the report.

"There is now a strong case also to seek broader industry involvement to increase the awareness of areas of concern and trends in containerised shipping, and continue to improve safety in the supply chain," said the CINS statement.