An update on recent developments

In the past few months there have been a number of developments that will be of interest to readers.

In no particular order: IMO has published its revised solid bulk equivalent of the IMDG Code. Called the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargo Code (IMSBC Code), it replaces the old BC Code and, for the first time, will become mandatory on 1 January 2011. This new edition also includes the text of the Solid Bulk Loading and Unloading (BLU) Code and also the Manual that has been developed for Terminal Representatives under that Code.

Although the purpose of the IMSBC Code is to achieve safe journeys for ships carrying such cargoes, there are aspects in it that relate to loading and unloading and any terminal that handles solid bulk cargoes should have a copy. IMO sales number IE 260E and ISBN 978-92-801-4239-6 price £45 + pp (with a discount from ICHCA International).

Just as with the IMDG Code, the IMSBC Code will in future be revised on a two-yearly basis. This means that revision of the newly published edition that was started at IMO's DSC Sub Committee in September will be concluded in 2010 for approval by MSC in May 2011 and publication later that year – two years after this first edition of 2009. Similarly, but on a separate two-year programme, the 35th amendment to the IMDG Code was finalised in September and, following MSC approval next May, will be published in October/November 2010 – two years after the 2008 edition with amendment 34. It is complicated but it does mean that both publications, which are crucial to safe receipt, handling and shipping of dangerous cargoes, are kept fully up-to-date Also finalised at DSC/14 recently was a review of the BLU Code.

The revised edition of this Code will feature in the next edition of the IMSBC Code. I will summarise the changes in the BLU Code when the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) has approved them next May.

The IMO's Container Safety Convention (the CSC) has also been reviewed. Once the changes proposed are agreed by MSC, I will also summarise them. An important aspect raised during that review was the fact that it was possible to rate and plate containers under the CSC even if their stacking and racking capabilities were less than those prescribed in ISO standards for series one containers. Regular readers will remember the incident with the Annabella, in which a stack collapsed whilst at sea. As with most accidents there were a number of contributory factors (apart from the fact that the stack was not secured at all) and one of them was that the two containers on the bottom of the stack did not have series one stacking capabilities.

As a result, ISO is to quickly consider some form of marking on the outside of the box or tank as well as a unique identifier in the box or tank number, thus ensuring that the handlers as well as the planners were aware of these lesser capabilities.

I wrote about the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) in May and its relevance in the care and maintenance of cargo handling gear. Since then, it has produced the seventh edition of its longstanding Code of Practice and, although only in hard copy at present, it is a publication that every competent person employed by a cargo handling company to look after that company's lifting gear should have access to. For further details visit www.leea.co.uk.