Hapag-Lloyd is set to get tough with shippers over the misdeclaration of dangerous goods aboard its fleet of containerships.
Effective 15 September 2019, it will impose a penalty of $15,000 per container for mis-declaration of hazardous cargoes prior to shipment.
Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth largest container line, said the move was in “the overall interest of safe operation onboard”.
“To ensure the safety of our crew, ships and other cargo onboard, Hapag-Lloyd holds the shipper liable and responsible for all costs and consequences related to violations, fines, damages, incidents, claims and corrective measures resulting from cases of undeclared or misdeclared cargoes,” Hapag-Lloyd said.
“Failure to properly offer and declare hazardous cargoes prior to shipment is a violation of the hazardous material regulations.”
It added that such violations may be subject to “monetary fines and/or criminal prosecution” under applicable law.
Earlier this year, insurer TT Club claimed that a major container ship fire at sea occurs on average every 60 days.
It estimated that 1.3m potentially unstable dangerous goods containers are shipped around the world on an annual basis.
Last year, Hapag-Lloyd said it transported almost 480,000-teu of dangerous goods "without any major incidents".
However, this year the company suffered a major ship fire aboard the 7,150-teu Yantian Express (built 2002) off Canada in early January.
