During a ship's voyage, all crew members and the ship's owning company must be guided by a huge list of various rules. This includes Colger, the rules that regulate the movement of ships at sea and prevent their collision, as well as many others. These also include requirements for the transportation of dangerous goods.
First of all, it is important to understand that dangerous goods include all those substances and objects that, at all stages of transportation, can cause an explosion or fire, or even any destruction or damage to the vehicle and other property, as well as the crew. Today, about 3,000 different dangerous goods, which are subject to special transportation requirements, can be transported using sea transport.
Classification of dangerous goods and general rules for their transportation
Based on the fixative, according to the recommendations of the UN Committee of Experts, several classes of dangerous goods were identified, for the transportation of which special rules were allocated. There are nine such classes in total, and the first is the most dangerous group that can threaten human life and the entire environment.
The very first thing you pay attention to when transporting absolutely any dangerous cargo is the permit for the shipping company. In this case, the most important document is the Declaration on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. According to this declaration, the ship owning company must fulfill all requirements for transportation, namely:
Requirements for containers (packaging) and labeling of cargo;
Requirements directly for the vessel itself;
Requirements for the ship's crew;
Requirements for the loading and unloading process.
Requirements for packaging dangerous goods
All requirements for packaging can be reduced to several points:
Particular attention is paid to the quality of the packaging itself. It should be high.
The inner packaging must not cause the dangerous goods to cause any force majeure.
The packaging must be strong enough for safe loading and unloading.
If the dangerous cargo is in a liquid state, its container should not be filled to the brim. Be sure to leave some empty space inside.
Empty containers must be cleaned or even disposed of.
All packaging must be correctly labeled.
Requirements for ships carrying dangerous goods
In addition to packaging, the vessels themselves are also marked accordingly. At the same time, the marking itself must necessarily contain the following attributes:
The name of the company that is responsible for the cargo. This can be either the sender or the recipient.
The technical name of the vessel is indicated.
In accordance with the hazard class of the cargo, danger signs must be present on the vessel.
The marking paint must be permanent. Water should not wash it away during the entire path of the vessel. The shelf life of such paint and signs in general is at least 3 months.
Requirements for the ship's crew
You can often find many vacancies (including chief officer) for ships transporting dangerous goods. On sites such as Crewplanet, Maritime Zone or Crewell, whose vacancies are very popular among seafarers from all over the world. But it is important to understand that when transporting dangerous goods, the crew must be informed about this. In addition, he must be instructed in safety precautions and taught the rules of behavior in an emergency. Each crew member must clearly know the sequence of their actions in the event of an accident or leak in the container.
According to the rules, personnel must be given mini-training and training in first aid, as well as rules of behavior with dangerous goods.
