The container collapse on the boxship ONE Apus is poised to become one of the largest recent incidents. The owners and managers of the ship are now reporting that the extent of the lost and damaged containers could exceed 1,900 boxes with possibly 40 transporting dangerous goods.
The 14,000 teu containership, en route from Yantian, China to Long Beach is estimated to have lost more than 1,900 containers overboard after it was damaged in a violent storm in the Pacific. The incident is thought to be the largest loss of containers in a single event that did not involve a fire or sinking. Uninsured customers will likely be stuck with the carrier’s contractual limit of liability, i.e. US$500 per container in the U.S. (COGSA rules) and US$900 per container in most other countries (Hague Visby rules).
A move is long and rife with hazards. Your cargo will pass from hand to hand while on its way to you: whilst loading and unloading from trucks and containers; through ports and exam sites; and from warehouse clerk to warehouse clerk. Each step is necessary for your merchandise to ultimately reach you, but having your goods move through so many checkpoints increases the chance of damage.
Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent adverse events. You can, however, take steps to protect yourself from a substantial financial loss in case things do go awry. These include: ensuring that proper inventory is taken of items to be shipped, making sure your goods are well packed, and insuring your shipment with a solid cargo insurance policy.
Cargo insurance protects your goods from physical loss or damage during transit. The main objective is to provide compensation should cargo fail to arrive safely at its destination. There are numerous types of cargo insurance policies and the cost and coverage vary. Policies can be applied to land, marine, or air shipments, or a combination of modes and can cover international or domestic shipping.
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