Exis Tech to launch DG Cargo screening service – Container News

Exis Technologies has confirmed it will launch Hazcheck Detect solution for undeclared and mis-declared dangerous goods (DG) in containerised shipments in May 2020.

The news comes as a spate of ship fires, last year and this year, continue to make headlines.

Hazcheck Detect is a cargo screening service that scans all booking or shipping instruction details for keywords, validates them against rules and highlights suspicious shipments to identify incorrectly declared cargo.

“The most important thing is that all major container lines are able to screen their bookings and bills of lading to try to find undeclared dangerous goods, thereby helping to ensure the safety of the crew, ships and cargo,” explains James Douglas, Commercial Director at Exis Technologies.

Much like Hapag-Lloyd’s Cargo Patrol system, the motivation behind Hazcheck Detect is to protect life and cargo at sea.

“In this sense, it is not important so much which tool is used to screen the cargo but rather that all major container lines are searching using the same keywords and rules,” says Douglas. “Hapag-Lloyd uses Cargo Patrol, but not all lines are able to use that solution. The major difference is that Hazcheck Detect can share rules for detecting undeclared cargo with all registered users.”

Exis was asked to develop a solution that was easy to share keywords and rules between industry partners. “This is very important so that container lines know that partner lines are searching using the same data.”

Hazcheck Detect provides online responses to all registered users, handles mis-declared as well as undeclared cargoes and shares industry keywords with third-party tools, such as Cargo Patrol. Currently, the system has circa 4,500 mis-declared rules and 20,000 undeclared keywords available.

Risk Zone Data

The company has also gifted its Hazcheck Risk Zone Data online as a free resource to all involved across the container supply chain in a move to further encourage the use of Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS) stowage guidelines. Exis Technologies is the software division of the US National Cargo Bureau; its input was focused around its detailed knowledge of the IMDG Code DG List and stowage requirements. In collaboration with other industry experts Exis categorised each commodity on the list by UN Number, placing it in the appropriate Risk Zone as defined by the CINS Stowage guidelines.

Katerina Kerr, Tank Container Correspondent