International Group And Cins Release Updated Industry Guidelines On The Carriage Of Seed Cake In Containers

The carriage of seed cake cargoes continues to create problems through the potential for its mis-declaration, raising the risk of fire on container ships. Seed cake is the term used for pulp, cake, pellets, expellers or similarly described cargo, including all such types of seed meal. It is principally used as an ingredient in animal feeds.

The International Group of P&I Clubs (IG) and the Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS) has recently released Updated Industry Guidelines on the Carriage of Seed Cake in Containers. The new version of the guidelines contains, inter alia, an updated description of seed cake, and the properties of, and observations in regard to, each UN number applicable to the kind of cargo (see below). The guidelines also provide advice about container selection, packing and stowage on board ship.

Seed cake is produced by removing oils and fats from plant material, either by mechanically crushing the seeds (known as expelling) or extracting the oil by the use of a solvent. Neither method removes all of the oil, and it is the reactivity of the residual oil which gives rise to seed cake’s hazardous properties.

The method of oil removal and the percentage of oil, and moisture, remaining determine which United Nations (UN) number (being four-digit numbers that identify hazardous materials and articles for transportation purposes) will apply to the seed cake in question by reference to the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code.
Source: The American Club