The Cargo Incident Notification System working group (CINS), a shipping line initiative launched in September 2011, has issued two new guidelines:

1. Guidelines for the carriage of metal scrap in containers.

2. Guidelines for the carriage of cocoa butter in containers.

CINS said that the guidelines aimed to increase safety in the container supply trade by highlighting the risks involved in the carriage of these cargoes and the best practises in packing and carriage methods to avoid issues.

CINS aims to increase safety in the supply chain, reduce the number of cargo incidents on-board ships and on land, and to highlight the risks caused by certain cargoes and/or packing failures.

Metal Scrap:

Heavy pieces of metal scrap might damage soft sidewalls and floor of containers if wrong sizes of metal scrap are loaded or the wrong loading method is used. Scrap containing radioactivity is a further issue. The intention of this document is to reduce claims from the carriage of metal scrap by ensuring that it is properly packed, declared and carried.

Cocoa Butter:

Cocoa butter is derived from whole cocoa beans which are fermented, roasted, and then separated from their hulls.

About 54% to 58% of the residue is cocoa butter. It contains various amounts of saturated fats (57% to 64%) with the remainder being unsaturated fat.

Cocoa butter becomes soft and malleable at between 30°C to 32°C and can melt at 37°C. Having become warm or molten, it can retain the latent heat and remain in such a condition down to as low as 17°C. Upon heating, cocoa butter expands and may cause it to burst the packaging and seep out, staining adjacent cartons and possibly leaking outside of the container or causing damage to the container structure. There have been incidences of cocoa butter melting on board ships, resulting in the clogging of ships’ bilges.

http://www.nepia.com/media/865674/CINS-Metal-Scrap-Guidelines-January-2018-Final.pdf

http://www.nepia.com/media/865670/CINS-Cocoa-Butter-Guidelines-January-2018-Final.pdf

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