The Transport, Public Works and Water Management Inspectorate (IVW) and the Port of Rotterdam Authority are launching a themed inspection into container vessels on 2 November. The aim is to find out whether or not containers on board are well secured by the shipping companies. Recently, a ship lost nine containers off the coast of Terschelling.

The two departments will be checking fifty container vessels over a period of four weeks. The Port Authority will select the ships entering the port on the basis of criteria set by the IVW. The departments will look at such things as the standards applied, as well as the planning schedule and the stacking of the containers, taking account of their weight, quality and the condition of the lashing material.

The lashing and securing of containers might already be included in the general ships’ inspections which the IVW carries out in the ports. The themed inspection supplements these.

An annual 10 million TEU (twenty-foot) containers are handled in the port of Rotterdam.

Source: Port of Rotterdam Authority