International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC) has emphasised how avoidable errors can prove expensive for ship agents.

In the latest issue of its Claims Review, ITIC recounts how a ship agent at a tidal port in Japan was asked to provide a tide table to enable the owner of a ship to calculate the permissible drafts for the dates that its ship was due to berth at the port. The ship agent duly scanned the tide table and sent it electronically to the owner. The ship arrived at the port with a draft of 8.56 m, but was informed by the port authorities that the permissible draft was only 7.8 m.

It emerged that the agent had inadvertently sent the owner the tide table for 2012 instead of 2011. The two tide tables were kept together in the same file and, during the scanning process, the corner of the tide table had folded over, thereby obscuring the year. The excess draft meant that the ship could only discharge for about four hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. The ship had to shift anchorage three times during the four days it took to discharge, which was twice as long as it should have taken.

Tags: International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC)