Heavy weather damage

Crossing the Oceans is a hazardous journey especially when heavy weather is  encountered.

At CJA when instruction by our principal we monitor weather conditions for the particular vessel and its journey and can advise our principal accordingly. Heavy weather does not only cause typical P&I claim such as damage to cargo or loss of cargo overboard. Heavy weather also causes H&M claims, which can include structural damage to the vessel or, damage to machinery and``equipment etc. A large proportion of cases where containers are lost at sea occur in heavy weather.

The questions we address at CJA  are :

• Why did the vessel sail through the heavy weather
• Could the vessel have navigated around the heavy weather?
• Did the vessel use weather routing or not?
• Did the crew slow down or alter course to avoid the impact of large waves or high winds?
• Was the cargo correctly secured?

If the vessel receives information about a tsunami, hurricane or other severe weather heading for the port it is likely that the vessel is safer at sea than in port and we advise accordingly.