Caution Advised for Shipment of Sierra Leone’s Iron Ore

Booming mining industry that lead to an upswing of iron ore exports from Sierra Leone may be impacted by the Ebola outbreak as more and more P&I clubs issue warnings to their members on the issues they might be faced with.

Correspondents of marine insurer Skuld advised their members that the cargo offered for shipment in Sierra Leona comes from locations several hours inland and may be transported by the Port of Pepel by rail or to the River Port of Thofeyim by truck.

Typically the cargo is then loaded on to barges for further transhipment on to blue water bulkers at the Freetown anchorage.

“Some shippers have not been co-operating with requests to inspect cargo stockpiles prior to the start of the transportation operation. This has made it difficult to verify the nature and condition of the cargo,” the correspondents said.

It has also been informed that there might be delays when inspections and surveys are undertaken in addition to potential quality issues of any cargo documentation tendered.

“In practice the vessel only gets to see the actual cargo when barges come along side for loading and it is at this point that a somewhat belated quality control exercise becomes possible.

There are no independent laboratories available in Sierra Leone where cargo samples can be taken for testing,” as informed by the Club.

However, since the loading is typically undertaken at anchorage from barges, it does mean that vessels are at a lower risk than if they were to be at a berth, the correspondents added.

Sierra Leone is the most affected country after Liberia in this present outbreak.

According to the update, at present it is not believed that the main mining operations have been directly infected, with the mines having sought to take precautions to prevent an outbreak in their locations.

“The outbreak has, however, meant that travel inside Sierra Leone can be affected, which may mean it is more difficult to have surveyors attend in case a problem does arise. Furthermore it may be extremely difficult to bring in outside expertise should that be required or to send any samples abroad for testing,” the update reads.

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Source: Skuld