The learning objectives of this chapter
are to examine the number of case
studies on incidents involving dangerous
goods and note how others have rightly
or wrongly responded
in this example we see a general cargo
vessel with a voyage from the United
States to new zealand and australia the
cargo concerned was loaded in Mexico and
the vessel then continued up the west
coast of the United States
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the vessel loaded a consignment of 50
barrels filled with a liquid pesticide
with the tradename mer force the barrels
were of a standard size of 44 US gallons
and are labeled with the trade name and
the word poison in Los Angeles a special
manifest for dangerous goods was issued
and it describe the contents of the
barrels as insecticide the barrels were
stowed on dec 25 on each side of
number-one hatch in addition to the
barrels some containers were also loaded
and secured on deck after the barrels
during the passage to New Zealand the
vessel experienced some bad weather a
number of the barrels broke loose has
did one of the containers products
leaked from some of the damaged barrels
the vessel have to and the container was
recently heard the barrels were
recovered and those damaged were stowed
in a more protected area the master
notified the agents in the USA and the
shipowners but did not notify the agent
in Auckland marathons had a very strong
and unpleasant smell when the vessel
arrived in Auckland the first port of
discharge the stevedores refused to
unload the cargo until the leaking
bowels were removed the agents contact
the consignor and the receiver for
advice and more information on the
product it was eventually confirmed that
the cargo was not poisonous but in the
meantime the Auckland authorities are
taking decisive action the barrels were
all removed from the vessel and
transferred to a holding area within the
port
however a gradual leakage continued from
some of the damaged barrels the
obnoxious papers do not disperse and
people in the neighborhood started to
complain reporting nausea and
difficulties with breathing panic
eventually started to spread as rumors
of poisonous substances to a cold
several residential blocks were
evacuated the state of emergency was
declared and the port was closed
in the end 643 persons were treated by
local medical facilities this incident
lasted for five days and led to severe
disruption to the local community and
economy the new zealand government
appointed a commission and an official
investigation was carried out the
subsequent report focused on the
handling of the damaged goods by the
Port Authority but also severely
criticized the master and agent for
failing to document the goods in
compliance with the imdg code and to
report the damage to all interested
parties due to the absence of readily
available spillage data the local fire
department used caustic soda to mask the
odor in fact this releases further
noxious odors in the air force and
calcium would have been a better
neutralizing agent
in this example we see how leakage from
San drums damaged other cargo on board
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the ship concerned was a general cargo
vessel with a hatch
one hold on the after end of the
forecastle iron pipes and bars were
loaded to both sides of between deck and
a consignment of barrels were loaded on
top of between deck hatch one of which
contained perfume essence the lower hold
contained bales of material and packing
cases containing valuable textiles and
first
during the voyage some of the iron pipes
vibrated loose and crushed up against
the drums on one side of the hatch the
drum containing the perfume essence was
damaged and began leaking liquid
gradually penetrated the hatch and
dripped onto the packaged goods below
carpets furniture coverings and dress
fabrics were all contaminated as well as
a package of valuable first the damage
was not discovered until the vessel
approach the discharge port some of the
contaminated goods were beyond saving
and written off the first were
chemically cleaned and the stains were
removed but a persistent smell remainder
due to the high concentration of the
perfume essence the value of the first
was reduced by between 50 and 75 percent
the hatch was found to have been in
adequately secured a factor which
legally affected the vessels
seaworthiness besides contributing to
the contamination of the cargo in the
lower hold the cargo in the tween deck
was inadequately stone and secured lack
of inspections within the hold prevented
time the correction of the problem the
vessel was held responsible for the
damage and substantial costs
this example features a freight roro
vessel operating in European waters
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at the time of this incident the vessel
was loaded with around 50 great vehicles
evenly distributed between the main
vehicle deck and the weathertech several
of these were 24 tank containers filled
with dangerous goods some of which were
classified as marine pollutants the
order of loading had been controlled by
the chief officer but was largely based
on the arrival of the Fate vehicles of
the load birth this had resulted in
several tank containers being stowed
forward and outboard on the weather deck
shortly after departure the vessel ran
into
very poor weather conditions which
resulted in her rolling heavily after
one particularly heavy roll a number of
the tank containers broke free and fell
overboard
the subsequent investigation highlighted
look
the weather deck the imdg code advisors
that we're tanks containing marine
pollutants have to be carried on a
weather deck they should be stowed in a
protected position being stowed in board
or other sheltered area had they been
stowed in accordance with the code loss
of several containers overboard may have
been avoided the containers were secured
using lashings recommended in the code
of practice roll-on/roll-off ship's
steering and securing the vehicles and
all documentation was in order
however no allowance had been made for
the bad weather and the possible effects
of play in the vehicle suspensions free
surface effect within the containers and
the distance of the units from the roll
axis of the ship all of which a fact is
mentioned in the imdg code in such
circumstances extra lashings and jacking
up of the traders is recommended closer
and more frequent inspection of the
lashings they also have indicated a
potential for developing problem
this example features a freight road
salt loading in a European port it is
around 2330 hours and the vessel is due
to sail @midnight last-minute loading is
a common feature of this trade and the
final frame vehicles are still arriving
at the port facility and being loaded
onto the vessel has departure time
approaches
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among the last minute arrivals is a tank
loaded with molten phenol UN number 2
312 particularly dangerous class 6.1
toxic substance which can result in
systemic poisoning by ingestion skin
contact or inhalation it is particularly
dangerous in that it is rapidly absorbed
through the skin and has a very low
occupational exposure limit value
in the dark and last-minute rush the
shorty
to immediately notice that the loading
valve on the tank was leaking it was
only spotted after the tank had been
brought on board and a trailer product
was found bleeding from the loading
pontoon over the stern door to port side
ramp and up onto the weather deck as
soon as the leakage was found the alarm
was raised the area evacuated and sealed
off loading operation suspended and the
sailing cancelled given the toxic nature
of the fumes the ship's ventilation
system was shut down and the
accommodation entrances were sealed the
crew were mustered in a safe location
and the shore foreman called the local
fire brigade and port safety officer the
chief officer retrieved the applicable
emergency schedule from the EMS guide
and the master notified the port
authorities
when they arrived the fire brigade
established a 20-metre exclusion zone
around the spillage it was estimated
that some 20 to 25 litres of product
were spilled in the various parts of the
vessel over which the tankard past
although a relatively small spillage
there were concerns about the cleanup
method to be adopted because of the risk
posed to the local marine environment if
the spinach was washed directly
overboard and a specialist contract was
called to attend and deal with the
situation
fortunately that all has a high melting
point and once in a crystallized state
is easier to deal with the contractors
were able to scrape much of the trail of
product off the door ramp and deck and
remove it to shore for subsequent safe
disposal the product around the leaking
valve had also gradually solidified once
the vehicle had stopped moving about and
personnel in breathing apparatus and
protective clothing were able to
approach and secure it properly once
this was done the tank was offloaded and
driven to a quarantined area of the
shore facility for further investigation
after a considerable delay which
resulted in cancelled sailings and a
blocked out birth the vessel was
permitted to depart considerable costs
were incurred to numerous parties once
out in clear waters the crew were able
to thoroughly wash down the affected
areas and dissolve the remaining traces
of the fennel small amounts are not
considered harmful to the marine
environment and disperse easily under
such conditions