Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk Line have agreed to cooperate in increasing the safety of dangerous goods. In a meeting which was held in Hamburg, Germany, Maersk Line showed interest in implementing a tracing system similar to Hapag-Lloyd’s watchdog program into their business processes.
The watchdog, together with the Hapag-Lloyd’s FIS (Freight Information System), is continuously examining cargo data to identify anything conspicuous. It has a database of more than 6,000 keywords that is constantly being added to and refined.
Hapag-Lloyd has been developing the watchdog program since 2011 and the German liner’s dangerous goods and IT experts played a key role in creating effective search routines.
The dangerous goods department was established almost 50 years ago and was the first in the shipping industry.
Since then, Hapag-Lloyd’s internal specifications on dangerous goods have repeatedly formed the basis for statutory regulations and have become mandatory for the entire industry.
Dangerous goods that are declared imprecisely, incorrectly or not at all have the potential to pose a major risk to crews, ships, the environment and other cargo on board.
Soren Toft, COO of Maersk Line, said: “By implementing a system similar to Hapag-Lloyd’s watchdog program, we will be able to increase safety on board of our 600 vessels and at the terminals we call. We will also improve our risk profile and in the same time we will be sending a strong message to the shippers, who put safety at risk.”
Anthony J. Firmin, COO of Hapag-Lloyd, said: “Experience, know-how and secure processes are crucial for a safe transport of dangerous goods. We are very happy that we were approached by other shipping lines to learn more about our watchdog program. The cooperation with Maersk Line is a very important step forward for increased safety and security of our entire industry.”
