CINS and the International Group of P&I Clubs have now further updated the recent guidelines on the carriage of Seed Cake in containers.

Seed Cake, the solid residue that remains after oils have been removed from oil-bearing seeds, cereals or other commodities, is primarily used as an ingredient in animal feeds. Seed Cake cargoes must be transported in compliance with the requirements set out in the IMDG Code.

Self-heating of the cargo

Seed Cake cargoes can be prone to self-heating. The production processes are unable to remove all oils and fats from the plant material and this residual oil gives rise to the hazardous properties of Seed Cakes. The higher the moisture and oil content of the cargo the higher the risk of self-heating and spontaneous ignition.

Cargo guidelines

The carriage of Seed Cake cargoes continues to cause confusion and the potential for mis-declaration remains high.

To improve safety during the carriage of Seed Cake and to ensure it is properly declared, packaged and carried, CINS (the Cargo Incident Notification System) and the International Group of P&I Clubs have now updated their recent joint industry Guidelines for the carriage of Seed Cakein containers. The latest version of the Guidelines contains some minor changes to the text including an updated description of Seed Cake, some clarification of details following queries received from container ship operators and the properties and observations for each relevant UN number.

Gard is an Advisory Member of CINS and is pleased to see that many of our Members and clients are also members of CINS.  We encourage container line members and clients to enquire about CINS membership, the main purpose of which is to highlight and address risks posed by certain cargoes and/or packing failures in order to improve safety in the liner shipping industry.

Source: Gard