German insurers call for action on dramatic rise in container losses

The German insurance association has said that better lashing and securing containers on deck, the use of anti-roll tanks on vessels and an effective system of checking the weight and quality of containers, should be used to tackle the fast-escalating problem of container losses on ships. The GDV gathered an expert panel to analyse the reasons for the dramatic rise in container losses in the last two years. The winter of 2020/2021 saw cargo losses worth hundreds of millions of euros. This winter is not looking much better. In October, the ZIM Kingston lost more than 100 containers and caught fire as a result of cargo loss. In November, the COSCO Nagoya lost 38 containers overboard. “We have to put a stop to this development – cargo losses pose a threat to both the crew and the ship, they are expensive and they contribute to marine pollution,” said Anja Käfer-Rohrbach, deputy CEO of the GDV. “The main problem is that the common practices for lashing and securing containers are no longer compatible with the sailing characteristics of large containerships,” Käfer-Rohrbach explained. The GDV’s experts proposed three main actions to tackle the problem. First, use anti-roll tanks and don’t load ships to capacity. “Containerships have grown bigger and bigger in recent years. Some of them are more than 60 metres in width, making them highly stable; they tend to right themselves very quickly. If such a vessel is loaded to capacity, it is prone to dangerous lateral oscillation (‘rolling’) in heavy seas – even when the ship doesn’t sail parallel to the waves but takes them head on. At the same time, container stacks of up to 12 boxes represent large windage areas on deck, which puts an additional strain on the cargo securing systems,” explained the Berlin-based insurance association. The GDV experts said that anti-roll tanks can counteract dangerous roll motions. Ballast water flows back and forth in those tanks, damping the vessel’s rolling oscillation. “However, such tanks are not mandatory and few shipping companies have them installed in their vessels. Therefore, the only short-term remedy is to reduce the number of containers on deck, because on ships that are not loaded to capacity, cargo losses are extremely rare,” said the GDV. Its second recommendation is improving lashing and securing containers on deck. Containerships have been carrying more and more boxes on deck. However, the cargo securing systems haven’t evolved accordingly, pointed out the association. “The standard container itself has seen very little improvement, too – even though containers are not arranged in four to six layers any more, like in the past, but stacked in towers up to 12 boxes high. This requires a fundamental redesign of securing systems. They need to be updated and extended to fit the seakeeping characteristics of large and highly stable modern containerships – even when the vessels are operating at 100% capacity,” it said. And third, it wants to see more checks on the weight and quality of containers. “While the weight of each and every container must be declared, there are no effective checking mechanisms in place. Seeing as the weight should determine where a container is stowed on board, this is most unfortunate,” said the GDV. The association pointed out that the heaviest boxes must invariably go to the bottom of stacks. A single box that is too heavy or stowed incorrectly can overwhelm the cargo securing system of the entire stack, it explained. “Sooner or later, that loose stack will lean against a neighbouring stack and destroy its securing system, triggering a domino effect. Also, the quality of the containers must be right, because the boxes at the bottom must support the weight of all the containers stacked on top of them,” said the GDV. The association also called for more effective checking mechanisms to detect incorrect weight declarations and avoid incorrect stowage. “First, the weight must be verified. Second, a container’s quality and structural security need to be checked. Third, someone needs to make sure the cargo inside the container is stowed and secured correctly; otherwise that cargo will move around inside the box like a wrecking ball, overwhelming the securing system of the entire stack – which, in turn, will result in the domino effect described above,” concluded the GDV.

German insurers call for action on dramatic rise in container losses

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