Maersk bans calcium hypochlorite shipments

Danish carrier will no longer transport chemical that has been blamed for ship fires.    Maersk Line said last week it will no longer accept calcium hypochlorite as a cargo.
   “In order to maintain a safe voyage on our vessels… Maersk Line will cease all acceptance of the commodity calcium hypochlorite with immediate effect,” the Danish carriers said in a notice in its Weekly Highlights newsletter.
   Maersk said existing shipments already loaded on vessels or awaiting transshipment will be offered alternative solutions on a case by case basis.
   Michael Storgaard, senior press officer at Maersk, said a ship the company time charters had a fire last month and Maersk believes, but has yet to confirm, the blaze was caused by calcium hypochlorite. While there were no injuries, pollution, or danger to the ship’s seaworthiness. Maersk decide to implement the chemical ban as a precautionary safety measure.
   In January 2009, the insurer Steamship Mutual said in an article “Between 1997 and 1999 there were six very large (multi-million pound loss) incidents on containerships involving calcium hypochlorite in various forms, including the Contship France, Maersk Mombasa, Sea Express, DG Harmony, Aconcagua and the CMA Djakarta. At about the same time there were fires and explosions in several warehouses in which large quantities of swimming pool chemicals were stored.”