Hapag Lloyd revealed his plans to implement a fine of USD 15,000 per container for undeclared dangerous cargo.
The company said the measure would take effect as of September 15, 2019 and was introduced “in the general interest of a safe operation on board.”
The measure comes as a result of a major incident that occurred in one of the company’s container ships earlier this year. The Yantian Express ship of 7,510 TEU suffered a fire while sailing about 650 nautical miles off the Canadian coast in January 2019. A month later, the Yantian Express docked in Freeport, Bahamas, for a cargo unloading evaluation and preparation process.
Hapag-Lloyd explained that, in order to guarantee the safety of its crew, ships and other cargo on board, it holds the exporter or shipper responsible for all costs and consequences related to violations, fines, damages, incidents, claims and corrective measures resulting from cases of Undeclared or incorrectly declared charges.
