Container ship casualty

Stow collapse and container loss

The cause of container stow collapse is often a combination of various incidents and effects. Collapsed stacks conceal many traces of evidence, hence the importance of bringing in qualified experts as soon as possible. During the further analyses, our services may include a review of the lashing system, a reconstruction of metocean conditions, ship motion response (like roll resonance effects) and consequential hydrodynamic loads on container stacks at the time of the incident, using state-of-the-art software.

Customers benefit from our track record in all of these areas of investigation, which covers over several hundreds of stow collapse casualties over the last 20 years. To support our knowledge, we treasure the most comprehensive library on container shipping documentation, books, and publications.

Container ship fires

Most container ship fires are caused by hazardous cargo inside the containers. Proper declaration in accordance with international regulations is therefore key. We bring in expertise from leading (fire) experts with many years of practical and up-to-date experience in IMDG and carry out in-depth investigations to trace back the point of failure in the supply chain.

Most container losses occur at sea during heavy weather. Not this one.
On 3 November 2009, containers collapsed on board the open-hatch feeder Husky Racer whilst berthed at
Bremerhaven Container Terminal. Shippers misdeclared the container weights and containers in the top tier turned out to weigh 30.5 MT rather than the declared 3.5 MT.
This and other incidents eventually led to the implementation of the IMO Vertical Gross Mass (VGM) regulation: a requirement for shippers to weigh / certify the container weight prior to loading. The VGM regulations came into effect on 1 July 2016. (photo: Scheer)