SHIPPING is not short of rules governing dangerous cargoes. What it lacks is consistent enforcement, meaningful data and, increasingly, visibility of the risks moving through global supply chains.

The latest World Shipping Council figures show that just seven of the IMO’s 176 member states reported container inspection data last year. And yet, of the 93,079 containers we know that were inspected, more than 10% were found to have deficiencies, a figure that has remained stubbornly consistent for several years. The most common problem was incorrect marking and placarding, a sign of misdeclared or undeclared cargo.

That matters because containership fires remain one of shipping’s most persistent safety challenges.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence casualty data shows ship fires are at a decade high, while TT Club estimates a big containership fire occurs roughly every 60 days. Misdeclared dangerous goods continue to feature prominently in casualty investigations.

The industry’s problem is not a lack of regulation. The IMDG Code provides a comprehensive global framework. The issue is that compliance relies heavily on shippers, freight forwarders and authorities identifying problems before cargo reaches a vessel. As World Shipping Council president Joe Kramek noted this week, carriers move boxes around the world while rarely knowing what is inside them.

Recent events underline the consequences when they do not. The declaration of General Average following the fire aboard CMA CGM Petra (IMO: 9977701) again highlighted the commercial costs of major casualties and an explosion caused by improperly packed calcium hypochlorite on Maersk Seoul has only just been settled through the courts more than a decade after it happened.

At the same time, the risk profile is becoming more complex. Lithium-ion battery volumes are rising rapidly and supply chains remain disrupted. The industry’s growing concern over Special Provision 188, which allows thousands of batteries to be shipped in a single container without dangerous goods declaration requirements, illustrates how regulation can struggle to keep pace with changing trade patterns.

The answer is not necessarily more rules but better information. Aviation is digitising dangerous goods documentation, enabling earlier validation and data sharing. Shipping remains heavily reliant on paper-based processes that create opportunities for error and concealment.

Millions of containers move safely every year. Yet with only a handful of governments reporting inspection data and deficiency rates still hovering around one in 10 inspected containers, the evidence suggests shipping’s fire problem is less a regulatory failure than a compliance and enforcement gap. Until dangerous goods become more visible before they reach the ship, containership fires are likely to remain a stubborn feature of global trade.

Richard Meade
Editor-in-chief, Lloyd’s List

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