Cargo surveys and cargo damage claims at the Port of Huelva
Most of the files we open are cargo files. Huelva loads and discharges chemical parcels, vegetable oils and biofuel feedstocks, copper and lead concentrates, fertilizers, cereals and steel, and each of those fails in its own way. Attendance while the ship is still alongside is what decides these claims.
Liquid bulk: chemicals, vegetable oils and biofuel feedstocks
Parcels load and discharge at the Moeve berths and at the Decal terminal in Palos de la Frontera, where storage is leased to individual traders and blenders. Because the product passes through several systems, the evidence has to follow it: ship, shore line and tank records read together.
The recurring dispute here is quality: a first-foot sample that fails, colour or water content out of specification, particles found on loading, or a wall-wash result the ship does not accept. The argument almost always turns on the sampling, and on who took the sample, when, with what equipment, and whether the vessel was left a set.
- Tank cleanliness and pre-loading inspection, including wall wash
- First-foot sampling and supervision of loading and discharge
- Off-spec investigation: water content, colour, particles, contamination
- Sample custody, sealing and instruction of the laboratory
- Shore-tank and ship-figure comparison, and cargo retention disputes
- ROB and stripping surveys, and heating and ventilation records
Dry bulk and mineral concentrates
Copper and lead concentrates, clinker, coal, cereals and fertilizers. The IMSBC questions come up constantly: can tests at the terminal, moisture against the transportable moisture limit, and whether a Group A cargo is safe to load as presented.
- Can tests and moisture control under the IMSBC Code
- Hold cleanliness and hatch cover weathertightness checks
- Wet damage: silver nitrate testing to distinguish sea water from condensation
- Stockpile and shed inspection on discharge, and sampling of the residue
- Shortage and tally disputes, with draft survey where appropriate
Steel, break bulk and project cargo
Coils, plate, rebar, wind components and heavy lifts. Here the file is won or lost on the pre-loading condition record and on how the mate’s receipts are claused.
- Pre-loading condition surveys and rust and moisture records
- Advice on clausing mate’s receipts and bills of lading
- Lashing, dunnage and stowage inspection
- Damage surveys on discharge, joint with the receivers’ surveyor
- Letters of protest, notes of protest and photographic records
What the Club receives
The same day
A short note with what was found, the key photographs, and the immediate risk to the member’s position.
The report
Facts, findings and reasoned opinion, with the documentation attached: samples, analyses, letters of protest and the terminal’s own records where we can obtain them.
What follows
Where the claim develops, we handle the local correspondence, coordinate laboratory work and instruct maritime lawyers when the matter calls for it.
Cargo problem alongside right now?
If a sample has failed or a cargo is being rejected, the useful call is the early one, while the ship is still at the berth.