Do not drop the yacht
Lloyds List Monday 22 March 2010
Michael Grey
THERE is a law which says that the worst disasters happen to that cargo that is most closely supervised. I can recall a number of these personally, such as when the winch drivers in Newport News managed to drop a 32-tonne tractor, complete with our jumbo derrick, onto the quay. Then there was the Rolls-Royce being transported to Tasmania for the Governor General, which, after being carefully lowered into a tweendeck as if on eggshells, was speared through its immaculate roof by a 12 ft baulk of timber dunnage being sent down to secure the vehicle, and which fell 40 ft off its sling. On both occasions, there was so much supervision that it probably confused the winchmen.
If my beautiful new 25 m yacht was being shipped as deck cargo, I would be pretty angry if, just as it was crossing the rail, it slipped out of its slings, bounced on the deck, fell upside down into the sea and sank, leaving but a few splinters of exotic woods. It is difficult to know how you go about breaking the news of its demise.
The Standard P&I Club, which seems to have come aware that such disasters are not so few and far between as one might think, has published a new and very common sense Guide to the Carriage of Oversized Cargo — Yachts. You would scarcely credit it, but of all the claims that come in from furious yacht owners, some 40% of these are because these elegant craft have slipped out of their slings or been otherwise dropped as they were loaded or discharged. Indeed, in this useful booklet there is a sad and tragic illustration of two hugely expensive craft perched right forward on the top of the container stack. Sadly, only one of these yachts remained to be discharged at the end of the voyage.
The authors make the point that forwarders often take such cargo without ascertaining the realities of having to carry very high value, oversized items aboard ship. The ship itself may have nobody aboard with any experience of such cargo.
Common sense, of which there is plenty in this book, suggests there is a need for proper plans and procedures for the handling of the boats, and if necessary the importing of any supervisory experience, proper cradles, sheltered stowage and adequate lashing. Most important, the delicate matter of slinging. Like a collision, the dropping and destruction of somebody else’s superyacht may spoil your entire day.
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