Safetytech Accelerator has signed up major UK maritime insurers, the UK P&I Club and TT Club to its Cargo Fire and Loss Innovation Initiative.

The initiative, launched in February 2023, is a multi-year collaborative technology acceleration programme focused on reducing cargo fires and loss in maritime and its impact. It is already supported by Anchor Partners COSCO Shipping Lines, Evergreen Line, HMM, Lloyd’s Register, Maersk, the Offen Group, ONE and Seaspan, which represent around 50% of the total liner shipping market.

The programme will help expedite the uptake of technology and best practice by identifying specific opportunities where technology can make a difference, shaping joint requirements, identifying solutions, undertaking trials and developing best practices and recommendations. It has already started working on solution for early fire detection in cargo hold.

Stuart Edmonston, loss prevention director at UK P&I Club, said, “We are really excited to join this initiative, to roll our sleeves up and get involved with the other Anchor Partners. Fires on board container ships keep happening, with depressing regularity, often resulting in tragic loss of life and catastrophic damage to ship and cargo. A large proportion of these fires are completely preventable and we find that losses could have been mitigated by better practices. This is an industry-wide problem that requires collaboration. The only way to improve safety is to work together, share ideas and identify and utilise modern technological solutions.”

Mike Yarwood, managing director of loss prevention at TT Club added: “As an insurer of many elements of the container supply chain, we have long campaigned for improved certainty for classification, declaration and packing of cargo in containers. We look forward to engaging with fellow partners to improve safety and certainty of outcome in the supply chain.”

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