Bangladesh to craft SOP soon to handle dangerous goods

The Department of Shipping (DoS) will prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) soon with an eye to regulating safe handling of dangerous goods and solid bulk cargoes carried through seaway.
According to officials, the formation of a 'competent authority', headed by DoS director general, is awaiting approval of the shipping ministry for the purpose.
The entity will be tasked with strictly implementing the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) and International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargo (IMSBC) codes.
"We'll soon start preparing the SOP on which the competent authority will work to regulate handling of dangerous goods and solid bulk cargoes," DoS director-general Cde Mohammad Maksud Alam said on Thursday.
None is currently solely looking after the implementation of the codes, which are crucially important to comply with international maritime laws and handle dangerous cargoes safely.
In recent years, a number of fire incidents occurred in off-docks and port yards taking scores of lives and destroying goods worth millions of dollars.
These incidents prompted repeated calls for proper implementation of maritime safety codes.
At a recent meeting at shipping ministry, Mr Alam said radioactive substances have lain inside Chattogram port area in the past 20 years.
"It's yet to decide who will dispose of those dangerous materials from the port yard," he told the FE.
At the meeting, Mr Alam said suggestions for preparing an SOP have already been sought from the departments and agencies concerned.
A draft SOP would be prepared in line with the SOPs of other countries and be sent to the stakeholders concerned for their opinions, he added.
The meeting, chaired by shipping secretary Mostafa Kamal, decided that the department concerned would constantly monitor the implementation of IMDG and IMSBC codes in Bangladeshi ports.
By law, according to Mr Kamal, every inland container depot must have scanners to check goods that come inside and go outside of the country.
However, not a single depot has set up a scanner there to date, he told the meeting.
IMDG code was developed for maritime transport of dangerous goods in packaged form with intent to enhance and harmonise safe carriage of dangerous goods, and check environmental pollution.
It sets out in detail the requirements applicable to each individual substance, material or article, covering matters such as packing, container traffic and stowage, with particular reference to the segregation of incompatible substances.
On the other hand, IMSBC code is to facilitate safe stowage and shipment of solid bulk cargoes by providing information on dangers associated with the shipment of certain types of solid bulk cargoes.
It gives instructions on the procedures to be adopted when the shipment of solid bulk cargoes is contemplated.
Key hazards associated with the shipment of solid bulk cargoes include structural damage due to improper cargo distribution, loss or reduction of stability during a voyage and chemical reactions.
In June 2022, nearly 50 people died and hundreds injured in a deadly fire and blasts in hydrogen peroxide-laden containers in BM Container Depot Ltd, a Netherlands-Bangladesh joint venture off-dock, in Chattogram.
Following the incident, export of hydrogen peroxide from Bangladesh remained suspended for months, thus depriving the country of earning millions of dollars.

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