The Swedish Club has published a report warning bulk carrier owners to pay extra attention to the basics. The Club has concluded that for bulk carrier operators, wet damage is the most costly claim type and the second most common claim that they experience.
The report is entitled Wet Damage on Bulk Carriers and has been prepared in cooperation with DNV GL, and MacGregor. It identifies heavy weather and leaking hatch covers as the most common and the most costly type of wet damage claim and the average cost for a wet damage cargo claim being almost $110,000.
Whilst weather routeing minimises the effects of heavy weather, green sea on deck is surprising, and it is not unusual for cargo hatch covers to be fully immersed in sea water.
Wrongly applied and poorly maintained cargo hatch covers and sealing systems increase the risk of cargo becoming damaged by water. Case studies have shown that many of these claims can be avoided. However, hatch components in poor repair, and applications of tape and seal-foam proving aren’t substitutes for good maintenance.
The most common wet cargo problems include leaking cross joints, and compression bars, rubber gaskets, hatch coamings, drain channels and cleats in poor condition.
Wet Damage on Bulk Carriers offers recommendations to avoid these pitfalls, simple checklists and explanations of the routine tasks that can be conducted as part of a vessel’s PMS.
Click to download and read the 32 page report in full: Swedish-Club-Wet-damage-on-Bulk-Carriers