Fumigated Cargoes, Liverpool Incident

The Port of Liverpool (UK) recently encountered a situation involving fumigated cargoes.  The port was preparing to discharge bulk bagged sweet potato pellets when operatives noticed partially empty cannisters distributed within the holds.  These were confirmed to be aluminium phosphide fumigation cannisters.  The cargo had been recently treated in three holds.  All operations were immediately brought to a halt and the situation made safe.  Regulatory authorities are investigating and have taken enforcement action against the vessel’s Master.

 

Lessons learned: Whilst there is a legal duty on the Master to inform the receiving port of a fumigated cargo, it cannot be relied upon.  Ports and terminals must positively establish for themselves, that no fumigants have been employed.

 

Please click here for the full Operational Alert

 

We are grateful to Peel Ports for providing details of this incident and to PSS for drawing it to our attention.  We acknowledge their commitment to sharing learning to benefit others.  If you have similar operations, please share this information with managers, operatives and any potentially affected third parties as appropriate.  Please also review any of your relevant operations for similar hazardous conditions, risks, and controls.

For further information, please refer to Briefing Pamphlet 20 – Unseen Dangers in Freight Containers: https://ichca.com/download/bp20

 

Learning content like this is highly valuable as it is based on real-world experience.  We encourage everyone with publishable information about incidents to send it to us, so that we can raise awareness across the whole industry.  Please contact us at secretariat@ichca.com; sharing your insight could save a life or prevent injury.