Carriage of hides and skins in containers

Each year, approximately seven million tons of raw animal hides will be processed and transported around the world in various stages of production before becoming finished leather.

The carriage of hides or skins in general purpose containers may lead to problems such as leaking of corrosive brine during transport. Brine leaking from wet salted hides can damage the container floor and paint, contaminate adjacent containers and corrode the ship’s decks and fittings. It can also have an effect on the air supply to reefer containers stored nearby. There is a very strong foul odour emanating from the hides and a potential risk to public health from bacteria, infection, putrefaction and woodworms.

To reduce the number of claims from the carriage of hides and skins the Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS) has published a set of detailed guidelines to ensure that this type of cargo is properly packaged, declared and carried.

Gard is an Advisory Member of CINS and is pleased to see that many of our Members and clients are also members of CINS.  We encourage other container line members and clients to enquire about CINS membership, the main purpose of which is to highlight and address risks posed by certain cargoes and/or packing failures in order to improve safety in the liner shipping industry.