Risk Management for Marine Logistics
Just like any form of logistics, marine logistics comes with a number of challenges and risks. And there are some risks that are almost unique to marine logistics too, meaning you may require a specific risk management policy to ensure you’re protected in case anything goes wrong at sea.
Marine logistics, also known as maritime logistics, is regarded as the primary way of transporting parts and goods across the world. Using shipping containers on large vessels, you can ship large and heavy items at a low cost, and the containers can be transported by road and rail too.
Identifying the Risks
However, marine logistics also comes with some risks, too. One of the highest-profile cases in recent years was the blockage of the Suez Canal by the Ever Given. Whilst occurrences like this are very rare, just one ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal caused a backlog of ships that wanted to get through and disrupted the supply chain across the world.
However, there are much more common issues that can arise when transporting goods by sea. As well as delayed goods, cargo losses do occur. Some of the most common cargo losses include breakage, water damage, handling or storage loss, theft, or other kinds of damage like denting, scratching, oxidation and discolouration.
And in severe circumstances, cargo can be lossed by a fire, natural catastrophic losses, temperature variation, contamination and even things like hijackings and piracy. Some ships might even capsize or lose containers in bad weather conditions.
Managing Risks
With so many potential risks, it’s important that if you’re transporting goods via the sea that you have a risk management policy that can identify any risks that may arise and ensure that your cover can protect you from potential losses. As well as identifying risks, they need to be assessed too, so that you can work out just how likely these risks will appear.
With cargo being one of the biggest losses to occur in marine logistics, you’d want to minimise that risk if you can. Through analysis you can manage the risk by working out what the most common problems are and how to either fix or mitigate those risks.
This can be in the form of cargo loss minimisation studies, journey risk management and cargo storage management. Cargo loss minimisation can analyse previous claims and review things like packing, loading and unloading processes, and lashing. Journey risk management will look at proposed routes and identify hazards, and storage management assesses how well goods are stored at warehouses, ports and railway yards.
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Having a Policy That Fits
There are a broad number of challenges and risks that exist in the world of marine logistics, and different goods require specific treatment depending on what you’re transporting and where it’s going. It means that you’ll not just require cover to protect you from anything that could go wrong, but you’ll also need risk management to go alongside it to make marine logistics a more secure proposition for your business.
At [broker_name] we can provide you with a risk management policy that takes your unique circumstances into account, and not only will risks be identified, but they can be managed to minimise the risk to your business and protect you if anything goes wrong. You can call us on [broker_phone] to discuss your requirements.
