By Larry Claasen
THE tragic collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in the US after it was hit by a container ship, the Dali, has made headlines around the world.
In this Q&A, Allianz Commercial Global Head of Marine Risk Consulting, Captain Rahul Khanna, who sailed on oil tankers and bulk carriers for 14 years, explains that while such incidents are thankfully rare, the fact that ships are getting bigger can make a number of different events more complicated when they do occur.
How often do events such as ships hitting bridges and other port infrastructure occur?
First and foremost, this event is obviously a human tragedy, and our sympathies are with those who lost their lives or have been impacted by it.
Thankfully, such incidents of this magnitude are rare.
It is important to note that the majority of accidents involving vessels and bridges cause damage that varies from minor to significant but does not necessarily result in collapse of the structure or loss of life.
After this tragedy, how safe would you say commercial shipping is?
The shipping industry has made significant improvements when it comes to maritime safety over the past decade.
Annual shipping losses have declined by 65% over the past decade, reflecting the positive effect of an increased focus on safety measures over time.
Nevertheless, while total losses have declined, the number of shipping incidents reported around the world overall every year has remained consistent. There were 3 032 during 2022 compared to 3 000 a year earlier.
Container ships in particular have grown significantly in recent decades. What impact is this having on safety?
Container ship capacity has grown in size by around 1 500% in the last 50 years (see infographic) but it is important to note that the Dali isn’t anywhere near as large as the biggest vessels now hauling goods around the world.
Nevertheless, it is still almost 1 000 feet long, the length of three football fields.
Ultimately, larger ships are not resulting in a higher frequency of accidents but when something does go wrong, the scale of the damage is likely to be much more severe because of their size and the fact that surrounding civil infrastructure did not anticipate such behemoths.
What are some of the typical risks associated with larger vessels?
While the number of serious shipping accidents worldwide has declined over the long-term, incidents involving large vessels – namely container ships and roll-on roll-off (Ro-ro) car carriers – are resulting in disproportionately high losses from events such as fires, container and carrier losses, hazardous cargo, more complex salvage operations and expensive repair costs, and issues with ports of refuge.
Across the industry, there are ongoing discussions about whether infrastructure and regulation have kept pace with increasing vessel sizes.
What are some of the potential implications of this incident for supply chains?
At this stage it is still too early to tell with any certainty.
The collapse of the bridge led to the suspension of vessel traffic at the Port of Baltimore, which is one of the largest US ports but is smaller than the nation’s largest container terminals.
Outside of the implications from any tragic loss of life, however, insured losses could include a wide range of claims such as property damage, business interruption from the port closure, debris removal, cargo loss and clean-up, and damage to the vessel.
From: https://commercial.allianz.com/
