The Club's local correspondent in Odessa, Ukraine has informed the Association of their concerns about problems often encountered by foreign ships when discharging cargoes such as palm oil.

The following issues have been raised by the Club's correspondent as problems commonly encountered at the port of Odessa.

Cargo quality issues

· Overheating of the cargo during its carriage by sea, often caused by incorrect cargo plans drawn up at the port of loading, i.e., not taking into consideration any heating instructions.

· Cargo quality compromised due to loading to unfit or unprepared tanks, i.e., tanks containing residues of previously carried cargoes, particularly cargoes on the FOSFA list of prohibited previously carried cargoes. Rust, scaling and poor tank coatings also often cause problems.

· The use of ships not intended for the carriage of palm oils causes problems due to lack of heating equipment in order to maintain the recommended carriage temperature.

· Additional loading in various ports has, at times, led to a mixture of cargoes of different quality when arriving at Odessa.

Cargo quantity disputes

· There are often disputes over quantity figures, probably because of different cargo density figures being used at the load and discharge ports. Receivers use a cargo density index derived by the terminal laboratory, whereas the ship uses a cargo density index declared by the shipper.

Obtaining permission for a surveyor to access the terminal and its shore tanks prior to the arrival of a ship can often be a lengthy process, so the local correspondent advises that, should the ship owner require a surveyor to be present for discharge operations, notice be given in advance as soon as possible.

Source of information:

Igor Cherezov

Dias Co. Ltd.

Odessa, Ukraine

Tel: +38 0482 34612

Email:

company@dias-co.com