“Moisture damage” is the source of a significant number of cargo claims, often involving bagged or bulk agricultural products. Claimants typically allege that failure by the ship to ventilate correctly resulted in the development of condensation(commonly known as “sweat”), causing the cargo to deteriorate.
However, it is important to recognise that some commodities may have inherent moisture levels which exceed acceptable limits at the time of loading, making them biologically unstable. Such details may not be known to the ship, and prudent ventilation measures may be insufficient to prevent the cargo from deteriorating on passage. Nevertheless, claimants may still maintain that the ship was at fault.
To defend cargo deterioration claims it is necessary for the vessel to produce records showing that customary ventilation routines were followed. Should the necessary evidence be missing or incomplete, it is often difficult for the Club to refute such assertions.
See attached file: Cargo Ventilation and Precautions to Minimise Sweat.pdf
货物通风及减少汗湿的预防措施
“湿损”是很多货物索赔的起因，通常发生在袋装及散装农产品。索赔人典型的说法是，船方通风不当导致冷凝形成(一般称为“汗湿”)进而导致货物变质。
不过，值得认同的很重要的一点是一些商品在装货时其潜在的湿度就已超过了允许限度，使其在生物学上产生不稳定性。船方可能不知道这些详情，谨慎的通风措施可能不足以预防货物在航程中变质。然而，索赔人仍然会坚称船方有过失。
为抗辩货物变质索赔，船方有必要提供记录，以证明遵守了惯常的通风程序要求。如果缺失必要的证据，协会通常很难对索赔人的宣称作出反驳。
详细信息请参阅附件。
