Carriage of metal scrap in containers

Metal scrap consists of recyclable materials left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Scrap has a monetary value, especially recovered metals, and non-metallic materials are also recovered for recycling.

Metal scrap is considered waste, under applicable national and international regulations, and shippers are required to make sure their shipments are in full compliance. Other potential dangers are fire, auto-ignition/explosion, damage to the container, risk of leakage (e.g. from motor parts not being drained from any remaining oil or fluids) or overweight.

Heavy pieces of metal scrap might damage soft sidewalls and floors of containers if the incorrect sizes of metal scrap are loaded or the wrong loading method is used. Scrap containing radioactivity is a further issue.

To reduce the number of claims from the carriage of scrap metal 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.