Cargo Stowage and Securing: A Guide to Good Practice (Second Edition)

This publication contains best practice guidance for the safe loading, stowage and securing of cargoes. It covers:

• General rules, recommendations and guidance
• typespecific information (covering cargoes such as steel, timber and break-bulk items)
• loading and securing.

Annexes include relevant regulatory guidelines and advanced calculation method worked examples.

The proper, adequate and satisfactory stowage and securing of items of cargo are of the utmost importance for the safety of the crew, the carrying ship, and the items of cargo themselves. If items of cargo are not stowed and secured in a proper manner, bearing in mind the intended voyage and the time of year, those items of cargo might shift from their stowage position, and damage might be sustained by the item of cargo or the ship, or ship’s staff might suffer injury.

This guide will take the reader through some basic rules to be remembered on every occasion during the loading and securing of cargo, will describe where regulations, recommendations and general guidance can be found, will describe recommended methods to be used for particular items and types of cargo, and will then give some guidance upon the points to be remembered during passage-planning and the voyage itself. It is not intended that this guide will give details of precisely how to secure any particular items of cargo. It will set out the basics and point to publications that give the rules to be followed. This guide does contain information, such as for the calculation of lashings, taken from codes, but only that which is essential for the clear understanding of the text.

Under chapter VI, regulation 5(6) of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, ships engaged in the carriage of all cargoes, other than solid and liquid bulk cargoes, are required to carry a Cargo Securing Manual that has been approved by the administration. Thus, the provision of a Cargo Securing Manual is a mandatory requirement. Such a manual gives, for the ship for which it was prepared, guidance for the safe carriage of cargo items for which that ship was designed and cargoes with which, therefore, the crew ought to be familiar. The ship’s Cargo Securing Manual will incorporate much if not all of the guidance and information given in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Code of Safe Practice for Cargo Stowage and Securing and the ship’s manual should be used in conjunction with the Code. This guide has been designed for use alongside the ship’s own Cargo Securing Manual, and together with IMO and other publications.

Despite there being codes of safe practice and publications giving advice on the safe stowage and securing of cargo, incidents continue to occur during which pieces of cargo shift and damage is sustained. It has always been recognised that, when ships’ staff have greater knowledge and are more aware of hazards, those hazards can be avoided and accidents can be prevented. The object of this guide is to increase the seafarer’s knowledge of the forces acting upon items of cargo, and of the basic requirement for the safe stowage and securing of cargo, and to help with the understanding of the codes and guidelines to aid loss prevention.

1. Introduction

2. General Information

3. Cargo-Specific Information

4. The Voyage

Appendices:

I. SOLAS chapter VI, part A, regulation 5

II. Guidelines for the Preparation of the Cargo Securing Manual, preamble

III. Advanced calculation method

IV. Advanced calculation method – worked example

V. Advanced calculation method – blank form

VI. Bibliography

Index

NorthStandard is one of the leading providers of global marine insurance products and services across the maritime industries. Established through the merger of North P&I Club and the Standard Club in February 2023, NorthStandard brings together over 300 years of marine insurance heritage.

From headquarters in the UK and with offices throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas, NorthStandard offers a unique blend of worldwide presence and class-leading expertise across multiple specialist areas, including P&I, FD&D, War Risks, Strike & Delay, Hull and Machinery and ancillary insurance. Its Sunderland Marine and Coastal & Inland divisions also provide cover for owners’ fixed premium P&I, fishing vessels, inland waterway and coastal trading vessels and aquaculture. NorthStandard’s comprehensive local market and sector knowledge is underpinned by continuous investments in market-leading digital technologies.

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