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Secrets of International Trading © copyright
Shipping Hazards The journey, that the exporter's product must make to its overseas destination is usually far more hazardous than the same product shipped to a local customer. The exporter should be aware of the hazards involved in shipping goods abroad i.e. rough handling, transshipment, pilferage, excessive humidity or dryness and extremes of temperature. Goods sent by air, are usually handled more carefully. Airplane are very expensive and the owners are usually more concern about their "Airplane" than the goods. Although occasional mishaps, such as goods arriving at the wrong destination or fresh vegetables arriving frozen, are not totally unusual.
At the port of shipment, the box, crate or other package in which the export goods are traveling may not be properly unloaded from the truck and may be dropped. Also, while being placed in the designated cargo assembly area, the crate may suffer damage from the prongs of a fork-lift truck, it may be placed the wrong way up, or it may have several other export crates stacked on top of it. |
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If the crate is damaged, at this stage, the contents may be damaged and it will be vulnerable throughout the rest of its journey to dirt, moisture and attention of would-be pilferers. The next step, is the loading of the crates aboard ship. For this purpose, slings, grabs, nets or platforms may be used. Each method presents certain hazards to the export shipment. The sling may not be properly located, causing crushing from without and pressures from within.
A crate may not
be properly placed in the net or secured on the platform, causing it to drop onto the dockside, ship's hold, or into the sea. A hook may tear a hole in the crate/sack. In the ship hold, The crate may be subjected to further dropping, tumbling, dragging, levering, or hooking. It may be stowed the wrong way up. And additional cargo will most likely be placed on top of it. The danger from these hazards can be greatly reduced by the use of containers. These are large metal boxes into which the goods of one or more exporters are placed. At the port, specially designed cranes unload the containers and place them either in the hold or on the deck of specially designed container ships. Because of their strength and their specialized handling, the containers offer great safety from damage and theft.
During the voyage, the movement of the ship may cause the fastenings of boxes or crates to become loose, the interior blocking and bracing to be dislocated, the walls of the boxes or crates to become punctured, and even some of the marking to become obliterated. The friction caused within the hold by the ship's constant movement causes the temperature of the air to rise. Consequently, once the hold is opened at the port of destination, the difference in temperature between the outside air and that in the hold may causes moisture to form on plates, pipes, bulkheads and deckheads which subsequently drips onto the cargo.
When the box or crate is unloaded at the port of destination, it may also be subjected to rough handling. The stevedores may be unable or unwilling to read cautionary signs such as This side up, Use no hooks, Keep dry, or Handle with care, even if printed in their own language. There may not be adequate covered storage available for the goods or even proper unloading equipment such as dockside cranes. At some ports, the ship remains out at sea in deep water and the cargo is transferred to lighters which then bring it ashore where it is eventually unloaded. Often, during the transfer of cargo from ship to lighter, a crate may bump against the side of the ship or the deck of the lighter. Also during the transfer, or while on the way to shore, the crate or package may be drenched with salt spray. At worst, a crate may even disappear into the sea. Shipping Losses, it has been estimated that 30 percent of all shipping losses are caused by theft, pilferage, and non-delivery. 40 percent by crate breakage, leakage contamination, and contact with oil and 10 percent by water damage.
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