16 June 2025 - The industry bodies of the Cargo Integrity Group expand on their concerns relating to cargoes that can catch fire and cause significant damage and casualties under certain conditions. Circumstances created by an alignment of mistakes, oversights, or failed controls can turn a minor incident into a major event.
Following its identification of ‘cargoes of concern’*, the Cargo Integrity Group (the Group) now focuses on the issues that may commonly compromise safety by initiating or proliferating fire under certain conditions.
It is recognised that many of the cargoes in this category, labelled ‘reactive hazards’ already fall within the scope of Dangerous Goods (DG) regulations. These regulations start from the premise that the transport of Dangerous Goods is prohibited – except in accordance with the details of the regulations.
However, incidents still occur too frequently; as the judge in one casualty litigation explained, disasters are only infrequent due to a “lack of a similar perfect storm of events, and simple good fortune”. All that is required is an alignment of mistakes, oversights, or failed controls. The Group is at pains to explain the dangers associated with these cargoes and emphasise strongly that only reliance on robust diligence or precise emergency response prevents many minor incidents becoming major casualties. (....)