TT Club

Geneva/London, 10 August 2021 – FIATA International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations and TT Club, international freight transport insurer, reveal this year’s regional winners of the Young International Freight Forwarder of the Year Award (YIFFYA).

The 2021 regional winners are:

• Region Europe: Glauc Fornes Gil, FETEIA, Spain

Dissertation: More than just a freight broker

• Region Africa and Middle East: Justin John Goedhart, SAAFF, South Africa

Dissertation: Agents of sustainable development

• Region Americas: Georgina Alejandra Perez Perez, CIFFA, Canada

Dissertation: Delivering essential tools to the Western and Eastern Canadian Arctic

• Region Asia-Pacific: Muhammad Wasif Wiqar, PIFFA, Pakistan

Dissertation: Million-dollar shipment

For over 20 years, the YIFFYA has been providing valuable training opportunities for young talent in the freight forwarding industry. The award also provides young professionals looking to develop their knowledge with significant networking opportunities. Today, in the context of the disruptive effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, investing in and nurturing the future talents of the freight forwarding industry has never been so crucial, making the YIFFYA competition more relevant than ever.

“We are pleased to have received such exceptional work from young professionals for this year’s award, despite the challenges we continue to face globally due to the pandemic,” said FIATA President, Basil Pietersen. “The quality of the dissertations and relevance of the topics addressed this year – covering areas such as bales of fabric, medical supplies, out of gauge plant, and laboratory equipment – truly demonstrate the resilience of the supply chain. It is an honour to contribute to the shaping of bright young minds in our industry.”

“Having been supportive of FIATA’s inspirational initiative to encourage young professionals in the freight forwarding sector for so many years, we at TT Club are continually heartened by the enthusiasm of the entrants to these awards,” said Mike Yarwood, Managing Director, Loss Prevention. “I would also like to acknowledge the forwarding companies, from national associations aligned with FIATA that encourage their employees to spend time and effort in laying out the details of their work projects for scrutiny. Such companies deserve recognition as responsible employers and praise for their professional development programmes.”

Both FIATA and TT Club are thrilled to continually recognize the inspirational and dynamic minds of the young freight forwarding community. Traditionally, the four regional winners would present their dissertations at the FIATA World Congress, with final judging and the announcement of the global winner taking place during the event. However, with the postponement of this year’s congress, the judging will be completed remotely and the global winner will be announced in November 2021.

About FIATA

FIATA International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations is a nongovernmental, membership-based organization representing freight forwarders in some 150 countries. FIATA’s membership is composed of 109 Associations Members and more than 5,500 Individual Members, overall representing an industry of 40,000 freight forwarding and logistics firms worldwide. Based in Geneva, FIATA is ‘the global voice of freight logistics’ www.fiata.com.

About TT Club

TT Club is the established market-leading independent provider of mutual insurance and related risk management services to the international transport and logistics industry. TT Club’s primary objective is to help make the industry safer and more secure. Founded in 1968, the Club has more than 1,100 Members, spanning container owners and operators, ports and terminals, and logistics companies, working across maritime, road, rail, and air. TT Club is renowned for its high-quality service, in-depth industry knowledge and enduring Member loyalty. It retains more than 93% of its Members with a third of its entire membership having chosen to insure with the Club for 20 years or more. www.ttclub.com

Freight transport and logistics insurance provider, TT Club announces a suite of risk management advisories in a new format and a variety of languages to guide transport companies and their operatives on common safety and security issues, providing key alerts to avoid damage and loss.

As a mutual provider of insurance cover, TT Club’s primary mission is the reduction of risk in the international supply chain. Succinct communication on a broad spectrum of relevant safety and security matters is of foremost importance in achieving this aim in an industry which is multi-national and multi-cultural.

The latest communication device that TT has launched is TT Brief. These two-sided infographic-style advice sheets are aimed at specific risks, for example fraud and road safety, and also include guidance on general good practice to avoid loss, such as attention to due diligence. This easily digestible guidance also has the potential to be designed into poster form to ensure that guidance is always in plain sight. In addition, in regions where the insurer has identified spikes in particular types of incident, the Brief has been made available in the appropriate languages.

The fraud Brief, for example is in Turkish, as a spike in claims of this nature involving the sub-contracting of cargo movements to fictitious carriers was identified as a growing problem. More widespread concerns about road safety have prompted the relevant brief to be available in Arabic, Chinese (both simplified and traditional), Spanish, French, Portuguese and Turkish as well as English. An illustration is shown in the attached PDF and the full suite can be downloaded  HERE

Commenting on the TT Brief initiative and other forms of communication in its library of advice, Mike Yarwood TT’s Managing Director, Loss Prevention said, “When formulating our guidance on risk mitigation, we believe effective communication is paramount. We are always concerned with delivering relevant insight, based on the sort of incidents we see, and how best logistics operators can avoid the situations that bring them about. In order that our messages are digested by the appropriate people and are fully understood we have devised a broad range of written and spoken communication channels. TT Brief is the latest of these.”

Further channels through which TT communicates range from its long-standing monthly advisory newsletter TT Talk to the more in-depth StopLoss series. From mid-2020 the Club has also been producing podcast materials, under the banner of ‘TT Live’, with one series on contractual issues and a second on theft and fraud already, in addition to using this medium for the monthly TT Talk articles.  More recently, utilising online webinar capability, TT has continued various campaigns, such as raising the issues around container ship fires and encouraging increased adoption of the CTU Code.

“Appreciating the mobile nature of our audiences, we have been deliberately developing our TT Live Podcasts,” comments Yarwood. “This easily accessible resource, available to listeners at any time, covers such topics as supply chain security, abandoned cargo and the distinctions between liability and cargo insurance cover. Directed at all sectors of the global container and freight transport industry we continue to deliver insight into the prevention of loss.”

About TT Club:

TT Club is the established market-leading independent provider of mutual insurance and related risk management services to the international transport and logistics industry. TT Club’s primary objective is to help make the industry safer and more secure. Founded in 1968, the Club has more than 1100 Members, spanning container owners and operators, ports and terminals, and logistics companies, working across maritime, road, rail, and air. TT Club is renowned for its high-quality service, in-depth industry knowledge and enduring Member loyalty. It retains more than 93% of its Members with a third of its entire membership having chosen to insure with the Club for 20 years or more.

www.ttclub.com

JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT

On behalf of Container Owners Association, Global Shippers Forum, ICHCA International, TT Club, World Shipping Council

The international freight transport organisations of the Cargo Integrity Group are calling for urgent action from actors in global supply chains to reduce the risk of pest transference through international cargo movements.

The five partners[i] in the Cargo Integrity Group, known as CIG, recognise the vital importance of focusing on the threat of invasive pests to natural resources across the world, and of the urgency in crafting risk reduction measures that address the situation. 

This call to action[ii] follows the intentions by pest control experts under the auspices of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC)[iii], to take all-encompassing, internationally imposed steps to mitigate such risks.  One measure under serious consideration is the mandatory certification of cleanliness for all containers prior to loading on board a ship, a measure that would have significant impact on global trade when it comes to both time and cost.

Lars Kjaer, Senior Vice President of the World Shipping Council (WSC), explains the CIG partners concerns around these very broad proposals: “We know that more serious risks occur among certain types of goods and from identified regions. The CIG recommendation centres on the need to provide proper risk assessments in defined trades and focus mandatory measures on these high-risk areas and cargoes.”

The partners in CIG are committed to ensuring that international trade is conducted in a safe, secure, and environmentally sustainable manner. They rigorously promote the use of the ‘Code of Practice for the Packing of Cargo Transport Units’ published by the IMO, the UNECE and the ILO (the CTU Code).

The serious issue of the transfer of invasive pests between different natural ecosystems is very much a part of this commitment. It is also crucial that the development of any such controls is undertaken in full consultation with other appropriate bodies, in particular the international agencies responsible for the governance of world trade and for the regulation of different modes of transport, as well as supply chain stakeholders and industry practitioners.

“There are identified risk areas and cargoes which must be addressed, and the CIG partners look forward to contributing essential industry expertise to the work of the IPPC to ensure an effective and efficient set of recommendations and best practices to stop the transfer of invasive species,” concludes James Hookham, Secretary General of Global Shippers Forum.

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

[i] The five organisations co-operating in the Cargo integrity Group are:

Container Owners Association (COA)

Global Shippers Forum (GSF)

International Cargo Handling Co-ordination Association (ICHCA International)

TT Club

World Shipping Council (WSC)

[ii] The full CIG submission to the IPPC can be accessed here: https://www.worldshipping.org/statements/the-cargo-integrity-group-issue-statement-on-the-avoidance-of-pest-contamination

[iii] The IPPC is an international convention, signed by over 180 countries and governed by the Commission on Phytosanitary Measures, part of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).  Agreed amendments to the convention are enforceable by all national governments which are signatories.

About TT Club

TT Club is the established market-leading independent provider of mutual insurance and related risk management services to the international transport and logistics industry, with a mission to make the industry safer and more secure. Founded in 1968, the Club has more than 1100 Members, spanning container owners and operators, ports and terminals, and logistics companies, working across maritime, road, rail, and air. TT Club is renowned for its high-quality service, in-depth industry knowledge and enduring Member loyalty. It retains more than 93% of its Members with a third of its entire membership having chosen to insure with the Club for 20 years or more. 
https://www.ttclub.com/

As the most comprehensive global marine solution available, Oceanwide Marine Suite will help TT Club accelerate its digital strategy by providing a more enhanced user experience and greater functionality in its cargo insurance business

HARTFORD, Conn. – June 22, 2021 – Insurity, a leading provider of cloud-based software for insurance carriers, brokers, and MGAs today announced that TT Club has successfully implemented Oceanwide Marine Suite for its cargo insurance business. TT is a leading provider of insurance and related risk management services to the international transport and logistics industry. This new implementation of Oceanwide Marine Suite will accelerate TT’s digital strategy by streamlining the cargo insurance policy configuration process, facilitating faster collaboration with brokers and clients, and enhancing customer offerings.

Headquartered in the U.K., TT offers comprehensive coverage for transport and logistics service providers across the globe, covering all types of liability in a rapidly diversifying market environment.  TT’s customers include the world’s largest container shipping lines, many of the busiest ports, maritime and intermodal terminals, freight forwarders, and cargo handling facilities. 

Insurity’s Oceanwide Marine Suite enables TT to meet the freight forwarding industry’s developing digital needs by sharing enhanced underwriting offerings with their cargo insurance clients. Oceanwide Marine Suite will allow TT to promote real-time collaboration between multiple parties to offer operational efficiencies in the management and administration of marine cargo insurance policies. Various tools within the suite allow users to rapidly process referrals and proactively manage exposures, with complete data transparency.

“After a review of potential technology providers, we felt that Insurity’s Oceanwide Marine Suite would deliver to our customers a modern, dynamic and responsive system,” said Kevin King, TT Chief Operating Officer. “The global transport and logistics sector is driving towards increased digitalization in a quest to improve trading standards and efficiency. In this environment, we believe Insurity to be a strong business partner for TT. The advanced technology represented in Oceanwide Marine gives our forwarders and their clients a system appropriate to current and future needs.”

“Insurity is excited for TT to accelerate their digitalization initiatives even faster as they take advantage of various integration capabilities that Oceanwide Marine Suite offers. They will evaluate risk more easily and improve underwriting results through access to better analytics and intelligence about account and portfolio profitability across a variety of exposure criteria,” said Syl Mathis, Chief Insurance Officer at Insurity. “TT’s customers gain a modern platform which has functionality to provide immediate coverage and go above-and-beyond in fulfilling the trading needs of their members.”

About Insurity

Insurity is a leading provider of cloud-based software and analytics for insurance carriers, brokers, and MGAs. Insurity is trusted by 15 of the top 25 P&C carriers in the US and has over 200 cloud-based deployments. Through its best-in-class digital platform and with unrivaled industry experience and thought leadership, Insurity is uniquely positioned to deliver exceptional value, empowering customers to focus on their core businesses, optimize their operations, and provide superior policyholder experiences. Insurity is a portfolio company of GI Partners. For more information, visit www.insurity.com.

About TT Club

TT Club is the established market-leading independent provider of mutual insurance and related risk management services to the international transport and logistics industry, with a mission to make the industry safer and more secure. Founded in 1968, the Club has more than 1100 Members, spanning container owners and operators, ports and terminals, and logistics companies, working across maritime, road, rail, and air. TT Club is renowned for its high-quality service, in-depth industry knowledge and enduring Member loyalty. It retains more than 93% of its Members with a third of its entire membership having chosen to insure with the Club for 20 years or more. 
https://www.ttclub.com/

At a time of container supply imbalance leading to shortages, international freight transport insurer TT Club warns against cutting corners when it comes structural integrity, cleanliness and cargo-worthiness of those that are loaded.

The responsibilities of container operators providing empty boxes and those packing them with cargo should not be forgotten in a period when such equipment is in short supply and temptations to forego security and safety measures are strong. 

Containers have numerous touch points in any given supply chain, becoming the responsibility for shorter or longer periods with a variety of stakeholders. During these unprecedented times, TT’s continued message to all parties is one of resilience and continuity of robust practices. This challenging period, for those reliant upon the container, provides an opportunity to reflect on the roles and responsibilities defined within the Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code)¹, as well as the necessary safety properties of a container and its suitability to carry its intended cargo.

Mike Yarwood, TT’s Managing Director, Loss Prevention comments, “The ripple effects of various national lockdowns, interruptions in trade and less predictable peaks and troughs in cargo volumes has resulted in severe imbalances of container equipment,” he notes. 

“Compounding the challenge, national stay and work at home policies have resulted in unexpected surges in consumer demand particularly for e-commerce goods, translating to beyond peak demand for empty containers in the dominant manufacturing centres of Asia.  These circumstances must not be allowed to lead to the widespread use of inferior container equipment or that which does not comply with industry standards.”

TT has for long promoted the use of the CTU Code but recognises its contents are lengthy and can be challenging to access.  Therefore, together with colleagues in the Cargo Integrity Group (CIG), it has made available the ‘CTU Code – A Quick Guide’² which includes a user-friendly Container Packing Check List. The Container Condition section asks the following questions:

• Is the container exterior free from soil or other visible infestation by pests?
• Is the container exterior in good condition, and not significantly distorted, cracked or bent?
• Does the container have a valid CSC Approval Plate?
• Is the container interior free from signs of damage, signs of water ingress, rust, residues, stains or debris?
• Is the container interior free from soil or other visible infestation by pests?

While imbalances, delays and restricted availability will place additional stress on all those involved in the supply chain, maintaining rigour in operations is vital. The ultimate question – is your container for purpose? – must always be answered honestly and in full.

¹Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTU Code),

²CTU Code – A Quick Guide

About TT Club

TT Club is the established market-leading independent provider of mutual insurance and related risk management services to the international transport and logistics industry. TT Club’s primary objective is to help make the industry safer and more secure. Founded in 1968, the Club has more than 1100 Members, spanning container owners and operators, ports and terminals, and logistics companies, working across maritime, road, rail, and air. TT Club is renowned for its high-quality service, in-depth industry knowledge and enduring Member loyalty. It retains more than 93% of its Members with a third of its entire membership having chosen to insure with the Club for 20 years or more.

www.ttclub.com

The appalling events still unfolding at an anchorage off Colombo serve once more to underline the continuing problem of ship fires caused by the mishandling of dangerous goods.  TT Club again urges all those involved in the movement of such cargoes to step up to their responsibilities and to act with transparency and diligence in matters of safety in transport.  

The X-Press Pearl’s sad fate is the latest in a disappointing recent and persistent catalogue of container ship fires of varying degrees of severity, which occur on an almost weekly basis.  The vast majority of these are initiated by a cargo of a hazardous nature.  One estimate puts the number of mis- or undeclared dangerous cargoes in excess of 150,000 containers a year – each of which has disastrous potential.  While still to be fully investigated, the catalyst for the inferno on the X-Press Pearl has been asserted to be a leakage of nitric acid, which was correctly declared but apparently incorrectly packaged or packed.

TT Club has been campaigning for some time to reduce these life-threatening, cargo and ship damaging, environmentally impactful and highly costly events.  This activity includes promoting awareness and wider use of the IMO/ILO/UNECE Code of Practice for Packing of Cargo Transport Units – the CTU Code – and seeking changes in regulatory requirements to improve the clarity, application, implementation and enforcement of mandatory regulations, including the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code.

Peregrine Storrs-Fox is TT Club’s Risk Management Director, “Effective review of regulations is to be applauded.  Indeed, the latest meeting of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee debated in detail the issue of container ship fires.  However, such consideration will not result in speedy change,” he comments.  “Holistic industry led initiatives are necessary. An understanding by all the actors in the supply chain of safe packaging, packing, loading and unloading of containers, and of the need for detailed, accurate information of the cargo’s attributes and any potentially hazardous reactions to any eventuality occurring through the entire transit, is necessary.  Above all truth, trust and transparency must guide all involved.”

TT Club organised a series of three webinars earlier this year covering all aspects of container ship fires, which looked at the whole gamut of the issue from ensuring that cargo packing, declaration and stowage are right; how the ship and its crew are able to respond to incidents when they arise, specifically in terms of firefighting capability; and to the aspects of forensic investigation and legal work leading through to the probable litigation after the event.  All three videos can be accessed HERE

Fundamental framework guidance for cargo packing is found in the CTU Code, which TT is striving to have better understood and utilised, embarking with fellow members of the established Cargo Integrity Group in producing the ‘CTU Code – Quick Guide’ and ‘Container Packing Checklist’ to enable easier reference to the Code.  Already translated and available in four of the official six UN languages, the remaining translations of the Quick Guide will be published soon.  It is currently available for download HERE in English, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin and Traditional) and Spanish.

Storrs Fox understands the extent of the task.  “It is a significant challenge to have all those responsible for the safe dispatch of general cargo to follow the CTU Code, particularly when often done on behalf of other parties and disconnected from transport risks” he comments.  “However, dangerous goods are subject to mandatory regulation. In the case of this casualty, we see another element to the problem.  The offending cargo was apparently correctly declared, with its relevant properties known, and presumably originating from an experienced shipper.  Yet for whatever reason the packaging was inappropriate or the packing and/or securing within the container was insufficient, resulting in a dangerous leakage.  While supply chains are complex and the hazards numerous, relevant knowledge and guidance are critical, within a control environment that must include effective inspection and enforcement regimes.”

ENDS

About TT Club

TT Club is the established market-leading independent provider of mutual insurance and related risk management services to the international transport and logistics industry. TT Club’s primary objective is to help make the industry safer and more secure. Founded in 1968, the Club has more than 1100 Members, spanning container owners and operators, ports and terminals, and logistics companies, working across maritime, road, rail, and air. TT Club is renowned for its high-quality service, in-depth industry knowledge and enduring Member loyalty. It retains more than 93% of its Members with a third of its entire membership having chosen to insure with the Club for 20 years or more.

www.ttclub.com

The risk of loss or damage to goods in the global supply chain has never been more prevalent. In combating the dangers, international freight insurance specialist, TT Club has launched a second series of its podcast to draw attention to the variable and complex nature of these risks and offer increased guidance on loss prevention.

TT Club is further increasing its efforts to deliver more of its long-established guidance to transport operators on managing their protection against theft and fraud. In Series 2 of its successful podcast, TT Live, risk management experts discuss current trends in criminal activity that target cargo in transit and storage. The six episodes cover such aspects of the problem as fraud, the insider threat, theft strategies, secure parking for vehicles and the targeting of depots and warehouses.

All the new episodes, along with those from Series 1, and the extensive library of written advice from TT are available as free downloads on the insurer’s specially designed Supply Chain Security webpage. TT Live is also available on Spotify, Apple, Google and many other podcast streaming services.

Mike Yarwood is TT’s Managing Director, Loss Prevention. He hosts the podcasts and comments, “The current freight transport environment features higher than normal volumes of cargo movement across all modes on land, sea and in air, as well as significant disruption to well-established routings and methods of transport. Added to these facets are increased inventories of certain goods at many locations and more sub-contracting activity, potentially employing less reliable entities. All these factors allow well-organised criminal organisations to exploit security weaknesses along the supply chain.”

Accompanying Yarwood on the podcasts is David Thompson of Signum Services*, the in-house investigative arm of TT’s managers, Thomas Miller & Co. Ltd. His career spans 30 years as a Detective with London’s Metropolitan Police and a further eight as an investigator with Signum. “Organised crime has never been so organised,” says Thompson. “Much cargo crime is perpetrated by well-oiled business-like machines that target goods that are in market demand and easily converted into cash. They are well-informed and adapt quickly to new transport trends, spotting opportunities with intelligence and resource.”

Among identified trends apparent during the recent lockdowns has been a move away from the theft of higher value, more easily traced goods, such as electronics and domestic appliances, to food and drink commodities that have had a ready market. Thieves have also noted and exploited the congestion in the supply chain that has increased the use of temporary warehousing and storage sites that are not always as secure as established premises. The second series of TT’s podcast addresses these along with a range of other risk pinch points.

Keeping ahead of, or more often, up with the variable modus operandi that criminal organisations employ, and combating the threats to cargo assets they enable, are major tasks and are the challenges that TT Club’s loss prevention resources are posed to face through increased awareness and guidance on protective action.

*Signum Services

About TT Club

TT Club is the established market-leading independent provider of mutual insurance and related risk management services to the international transport and logistics industry. TT Club’s primary objective is to help make the industry safer and more secure. Founded in 1968, the Club has more than 1100 Members, spanning container owners and operators, ports and terminals, and logistics companies, working across maritime, road, rail, and air. TT Club is renowned for its high-quality service, in-depth industry knowledge and enduring Member loyalty. It retains more than 93% of its Members with a third of its entire membership having chosen to insure with the Club for 20 years or more.

www.ttclub.com