Maritime Alert – Vessel Turned Away Following Crackdown On Container Stow Working Space

A container ship which did not meet the minimum access requirements for container stow working space was recently unable to discharge containers at an Australian port and was forced to leave Australia with containers onboard, with the vessel eventually returning to SE Asia to tranship the containers to other vessels which complied with the requirements.

Carriers carrying containers (or cargo generally for that matter) to or from Australian ports should be aware of the requirements of Marine Order, Part 32 – Cargo Handling Equipment. A copy of the Marine Order can be found at: http://www.amsa.gov.au/vessels/standards-regulations/marine-orders/

The Marine Order imposes strict requirements for the loading and unloading of vessels and, in particular, prescribes minimum access requirements for cargo working areas. For example, where containers are manually secured on a ship, a minimum distance of 550mm between adjacent ends of containers must be provided at all times.