Hazmat regulations - a volatile compound. (hazardous materials)

Almost 50 years after Texas City, it is heartening to see great strides being made in regulations covering hazardous-materials cargo. If only the crew on board that Liberty ship had known to open hatches and flood the holds with plain water ...

An article in last month's American Shipper (page 64), on much-needed maritime liability reform, referred to the shipper's responsibility in preparing a shipment of dangerous goods. This article examines the shipper's roles and responsibilities in relation to the body of regulation and conflicting rulings and interpretations.

The stowage of a vessel was once the domain of the stevedore and the longshore gangs. The shipper presented the cargo to the vessel in loose bags or boxes, eventually on pallets. Stowage was left to the professionals at the pier. But it was containerization that brought about a radical change. The shipper now had the task of stowing the container and ensuring the cargo was properly blocked and braced. Governmental recognition of the surge in shipments of dangerous goods added increased domestic and international regulation, sometimes conflicting, affecting product classification, labeling, placarding, packaging and stowage compatibility. Today's shippers must be specially trained and thoroughly knowledgeable about the products they ship and how to stow them. Are they?

The Legacy Of Texas City

In April 1947 two blasts reshaped Texas City, Texas. Two ships being loaded with ammonium nitrate fertilizer for war-ravaged Europe blew up with great loss of life and property. Thirty years later, whenever ammonium nitrate was mentioned on the piers someone would …