THE number of minor maritime casualties may be falling, but the number of major ones is on the increase, warned Janusz Fedorowicz, of Fedorowicz & Partners, Belgian insurance adjusters.
"Totalling losses and salvage costs, together with possible third party claims, may simply prove disastrous. The only way out of one recent casualty was to transship a bulk cargo in over 2,000 containers," he said in a statement.
Mr Fedorowicz warned that "gigantism coupled up with just-in-time deliveries, strains the whole supply chain. "Should a crisis develop, mega-carriers do not offer the same flexibility as smaller ships.
"Is the whole shipping community, inclusive of insurance, benefiting from this rigid gigantism? Is it sustainable? Giant boxships result in a concentration of values and risks that may not be sustainable," he said.
Mr Fedorowicz recalled that a stricken containership blocked the access to a country's two major ports and that was a medium-sized vessel.
"Let us imagine the magnitude of the consequences should one of these mega-carriers meet with a similar casualty in an identical location, with over 10,000 containers to be offloaded and a wreck to be removed taking over a year as it did with MSC Napoli.
"What about a mega-carrier stranded way out at sea in a difficult location? In such circumstances adequate salvage equipment may be difficult to operate. Thus, spreading out evenly, as suggested, across major trade routes such equipment may prove immensely expensive, with salvage awards reaching new heights," said Mr Fedorowicz.
"However impressive their total cargo carrying capacity may be, the number of [mega] container carriers represents but a small part of the world's cargo carrying fleet, numbering around 10 per cent, so that we still have 90 per cent of the fleet which involves a limited number of cargo interests, often a single one.
"From a technical point of view, flexible and adaptable equipment would be required to meet different situations. Sufficient and not too distant storage places may be required, which may raise major difficulties, while transshipping cargo on hired vessels may prove difficult depending on the nature of the cargo and the type of damage suffered," Mr Fedorowicz said.