Critical Analysis of Container Accidents in International Logistics

Abstract

Purpose: Container accidents are a significant issue in international logistics, causing property damage, financial loss, environmental hazards, and even loss of life. These accidents can occur in various settings, such as ports, container yards, roads, rails, or seas. Efforts are being made to enhance container safety, but they remain a persistent challenge that requires ongoing attention to ensure the safe and efficient movement of goods across the globe. By understanding the specific aspects of container accidents that are human-controllable and addressing these issues, a more sustainable and efficient global logistics industry can be achieved.

Methodology: An exploratory research design is used in the research study. A comprehensive review of existing literature, including research papers, academic journals, books, reports, and reputable online sources was done. Literature that focuses on container accidents, maritime safety, human factors, and accident investigation reports was extensively studied to gain an understanding of the current state of knowledge on the topic. Data from relevant secondary sources that provide information on container accidents that are human-controllable were identified and collected.

Results & Outcome: Container accidents that are happening owing to natural calamities such as floods, cyclones, sea perils, etc are uncontrollable. There are other forms of container accidents viz cargo damage, container equipment damage, container vessel damage, loss of life owing to container fall, etc occurring due to container sliding while handling, tipping of container vessels while loading, skewing of container vessels in the transit voyage, etc. that are controllable by human interference. Unevenly loaded containers seem to be the prime reason for many container accidents that are apparently controllable by humans by following the International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC) guidelines of the International Maritime Organization. In an LCL (Less than Container Load) scenario, adhering to such guidelines may be challenging. There are many research articles discussing the load balancing of containers in an LCL scenario using various optimization techniques, and it appears that the literature is still evolving.

Originality: A exploratory study to understand the human controllable factors in container accidents, further study the regulatory guidelines, and analyse the research papers published.

Type of the Paper: Exploratory research.