Marine cargo surveyor
Marine cargo surveyor inspected water ingress in one of the vessel in hold no.3 at Jebel ali port We as Independent Marine Cargo Surveyors received a nomination from one of our overseas Principals to carry out an investigation on damage of a high value cargo, found while discharging was in progress from vessel's Hold No. 3 .The Buyers of the cargo found water inside the Hold and a part of the cargo was noted wet and damaged. Our Senior Cargo Surveyor contacted the local agent and requested them to arrange permission to enter the Port Berth in order to attend on board the vessel to investigate the cause, nature and extent of cargo damage. Since, the matter was very urgent the agent arranged the permission to enter the Berth.
Marine cargo surveyor � meeting on board with the master,ch,officer & Business Rep
Our cargo Surveyor boarded the vessel at 2250 hours on the same date. Met the Master, Chief Officer and informed them about the purpose of our visit. The Master provided us with all the documents pertaining to the cargo. He also stated that this incident leading to cargo damage occurred due to stevedore's rough handling while shifting the cargo using a pay loader inside the Hold No. 3 at 2130 hours on 28th February, 2015. The Buyers Rep. stopped discharging of cargo immediately from this Hold and shifted the suction boom to Hold No.1 to discharge. The Master also informed his frustration in-spite of his repeated request to the buyer's rep. to resume discharging from Hold No. 3 so that the maximum cargo can be discharged and the damaged quantity can be reduced.
Marine cargo surveyor � Our inspection inside Hold No:3
In conjunction with the Ch. Officer and our Marine Cargo Surveyor inspected Hold No. 3. At the time of attendance on board by our Marine Cargo Surveyor no cargo discharge operation was going on. According to the Ch. Officer of the vessel the ballast tank manhole got damaged while the pay loader was used in lifting the cargo from that particular area. The shovel of the pay loader got in contact with the bolts &nuts securing the manhole cover and the water from the ballast tank started leaking into the cargo Hold causing water damage to cargo. At the time of our Marine cargo Surveyor's attendance he found the cargo stowed in that area wet and discolored. Our Marine cargo Surveyor advised the Pay loader operator to segregate and keep the wet damaged cargo separately as the cargo was lying on top of the manhole cover of the ballast tank. Therefore, inspection of the area around manhole could not be carried out at this stage.
Marine cargo surveyor � Loss Minimization Endeavor by our cargo surveyor
Our marine cargo surveyor had a meeting with the buyers rep on board.Upon completion of the initial inspection inside the Hold we happened to meet the Sr. Supervisor of the Buyers who was on board. We had a meeting with him and requested him that there was good amount of sound cargo in Hold No. 3 therefore, would suggest to discharge the cargo from Hold No.3 immediately so that the wet damage quantity can be reduced as far as possible. Our Marine Surveyor also had convinced him that we shall request the Master of the vessel to deploy one of the ship's crew to supervise and to ensure that no wet cargo to be discharged. The buyer's rep. at last agreed to our suggestion and instructed his supervisor to shift the suction boom from Hold No. 1 to 3. The discharge of cargo resumed immediately on the same date. Our Marine cargo Surveyor and Asst. Marine Cargo Surveyors were continuously monitoring the discharge operation from Hold No. 3 and also were inspecting the segregation of the damaged cargo. The discharge of the sound cargo from Hold No.3 completed at 1210 hours on 01st March, 2015. All the wet damaged cargo was segregated in Hold No. 3. Upon our inspection we noticed that there was lot of sound cargo lying along with the wet damaged cargo. Our Marine Cargo Surveyor again requested the consignee to inspect the Hold No. 3 and showed him the sound cargo and hence requested them to discharge the same.
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Wet cargo segregated and kept at one location with the aid of a pay loader inside the Hold No.3 Being the Cargo surveyors appointed on behalf of the Charterers we took initiative to bring the Receiver Rep and Master of the vessel to discuss the manner the damaged cargo to be discharged from the vessel. The receivers had given two, three options which were not acceptable to the Master. At last the Receiver informed that he would l arrange a Hopper inside the Hold and arrange Jumbo bags with the aid of the pay loader the cargo will be put inside the hopper and the jumbo bags will be filled. After completion of the entire discharge of the damaged cargo it will be weighed in our presence to ascertain the exact quantity. protest letter issuance by the buyers and the master of the vessel: The Buyers of the cargo had issued 2 protest letters stating that the damage caused to the cargo was due to the vessel's defect and approximately 50 Tons got wet damaged and the cost of the cargo and other expenses must be settled by the charterers or owners. Failing which they cannot allow the vessel to sail. Our cargo surveyor had prolonged discussion with the Master and the Buyers representative to sail out the vessel. At last they agreed to sail the vessel. The Master of the vessel also issued a protest letter stating that the damage to his vessel inside the Hold No.3 is caused due to stevedore rough handling. However, the local agent endorsed it.
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Water seeping from the Manhole of Ballast Tank No.3 The Water ballast tank No. 3 manhole CONCLUSION: In our unprejudiced opinion the water ingress inside the Hold No. 3 was caused due to pre-existing damage to the manhole covers/packing of the ballast tank. While ballasting in Tank No. 3 due to the defects of the packing, water had leaked and cargo got wet damaged. The wet cargo on weighment found to be 50 M.T.
