International Norwegian-based global marine insurance company, Gard, has expressed concerns over the transshipment of bauxite from Guyana which showed significant signs of high moisture content on arrival at a port in the US back in June.
The high moisture content in the shipment poses significant risk to safety of the cargo vessel and crew members and it is in light of this, the insurance company has released a new menu of recommendations for shippers.
While not releasing the name of the cargo or the company from which the bauxite was loaded, Gard, in a statement on its website said the vessel was loaded in Guyana and showed serious signs of instability. On arrival at the port of discharge in the US, the cargo with “cement grade bauxite” showed significant liquefaction and had flattened into a fluid state.
No testing certificates were provided in the recent Guyana case as there is no testing facility for the percentage of moisture content available here.
When significant moisture is present in bauxite, shipping on the open ocean can become problematic as it affects the stability of the vessel and can be a major contributor to the vessel sinking.
“Gard has been advised by materials experts Roxburgh that fine particulate bauxite, when approaching the point of saturation, will have a natural tendency to retain water. As such, a can test that does not expel water is unlikely to raise any concerns for a ship’s Master, even when the cargo is potentially dangerously unsafe,” the company stated in a report on its website.
The largest Protection & Indemnity (P&I) insurer among the 13-member International Group has disclosed that no testing capacity is available here. It further informs that “Any cargo that has an inherent propensity to retain moisture and reach a point of saturation will demonstrate an FMP/TML if tested correctly. These cargoes can, by definition, ‘flow’ like a viscous fluid and should be classified as a Group A cargo.”
The Maritime Administration (MARAD) Director General Stephen Thomas yesterday told Stabroek News that his agency is not aware of the reports. Noting that he understands the concerns of the insurer and the implications of such a shipment, he said his agency does not have any oversight of bauxite shipment.
The company also highlighted to ship owners that seasonal rains in Guyana have only made the situation more precarious.
“Guyana has traditionally had two well-defined rainy seasons in December/January and again in May/June. These seasons have become less predictable recently, and this year the country has had almost continuous rainfall since December 2020. The rain showers are frequent and usually very heavy, and come with little warning, giving crews insufficient time to respond with the closing of hatch covers. Bulk carriers with chain-pull hatch covers are not recommended during the rainy season,” Gard cautioned.
These concerns have caused Gard to issue a menu of measures for ship owners to follow when transporting bauxite from Guyana.
Some of these recommendations are:
• Moisture content must be tested within seven days of loading or any time there is a change in moisture condition such as rain. It noted that sampling and testing for moisture content must be representative of the cargo as a whole and declared as an average of the cargo.
• Any variability in the composition of the cargo, finer and/or wetter portions for example, should be sampled and tested for moisture content separately and clearly documented on the Shipper’s Declaration on a hold-by-hold basis.
• Any anomalies in the cargo declarations and test certificates should be questioned and brought to the attention of the Club. Red flags include fine particles cargo declared as Group C, Group C cargo with a TML listed, and moisture certificates dated more than seven days before loading.
• The cargo should not be loaded during rain and hatch covers should be closed during rain waiting periods if partially loaded. Certain grades of bauxite, such as the low grade washed by-product fines in Guyana, retain moisture remarkably well when increasingly saturated. This means that when a can test is performed on moist material there may be no free moisture visible. This is not a sign the cargo is safe to load.
The insurer also cautioned shippers that bauxite is primarily a fine-particulate composition (appearance similar to a silty sand) should be assumed to be Group A unless proven otherwise by independent testing and reflected as such in the cargo declaration.
It stated too that Group ‘A’ cargoes must be accompanied by a TML and moisture content test certificate that should reference the specific IMSBC Code test method and/or ISO standard employed.
“Gard encourages its Members to have a low threshold for contacting the Club if they are fixed or are considering fixing a bauxite cargo from Guyana, and alert the Club if there are any signs of misdeclaration, fine grained or overly wet cargo. Owners should use caution and be familiar with the IMSBC Code requirements and loss prevention materials,” the insurer cautioned further.
