Russia

Master detained for having undeclared descaler on board

The London Club has recently seen a troubling case involving the detention of the master of a bulk carrier which called at the Russian port of Novorossisysk, to discharge a cargo of sugar.

As usual, the master had provided a declaration of the ship's stores to the customs authorities, prior to arrival. But he inadvertently omitted to list the presence on board of drums of Unitor descaling fluid - a commonly used cleaning agent, the contents of which include hydrochloric acid.

When the authorities discovered the drums, they arranged for chemical analysis of the fluid. And when this unsurprisingly confirmed its acid content, the master was charged with smuggling a toxic substance into Russia. As a result, the master was detained ashore and the urgent intervention of the Greek consulate was required to avoid his imprisonment. Following concerted efforts by the shipowners, the Club, the correspondent, and industry organisations, the matter was eventually concluded by the payment of a modest fine – but only after the master had been detained for some 57 days.

The scale and nature of the authorities’ response in this case underlines the particular importance to those trading to Novorossisysk of attention to the accuracy of customs declarations - and of the need for awareness of the potentially serious difficulties that can arise from the undeclared presence of cleaning agents containing hydrochloric acid.