The end of the voyage is not the end of the journey. Significant quality losses can occur during and after discharge. It is essential to move the product to market as quickly as possible, maintain the cold chain, and handle the product with utmost care.
1. Stopping of Refrigeration
- Maintain refrigeration on board until discharge is complete.
- Integral containers must remain powered until the last possible moment.
- Refrigerated decks must be kept under cooling until ready for discharge.
- Cooling must be resumed during any breaks in discharge.
2. Protection of the Cargo
- Containerised cargo not dispatched directly to market must go straight to the container terminal and be recooled immediately.
- Palletised cargo discharged from conventional decks or containers must be:
- Protected against the elements (especially when ambient temperatures are below 0°C or above 15°C).
- Protected against chemical, physical, and microbiological contamination.
- Placed in cold storage at the correct temperature immediately after discharge.
- Protected from possible taint from other products in the same cold store.
3. In-Transit Cold Treated Cargo
- The Master must allow quarantine officials to inspect the cargo and temperature logs.
- All temperature logs, notes on the cold treatment process, and PPECB certificates must be handed over to quarantine authorities as requested.
- Cold treatment must not be stopped upon arrival at the port of discharge.
- Refrigeration can only be stopped and discharge started after approval by the quarantine authorities of the importing country.
4. Quality Surveying
- Quality surveyors must be called in immediately when a product quality problem occurs or is expected.
- Exporter, importer, and shipping line must be informed simultaneously to allow them to be present or appoint a surveyor.
- Follow international guidelines (e.g., International Cold Chain Technology group, Cambridge, UK).
- The quality survey must be done immediately when the problem is discovered; late reports are not useful.
- The identity of the product, container, or stowage position must be correctly identified for traceability.
- Record all relevant information about product quality and condition, including:
- Nature of defects
- Temperatures in various positions
- Distribution of defects through the load
- Condition of packaging
- Digital photographs reflecting the true situation are helpful; do not collate all defects into one carton for photos.
- Retrieve temperature data loggers (if installed) and return to the owner’s representative for data download.
5. Insurance Claims
- Inform exporter, importer, shipping line, and insurance company immediately of any claim or potential claim.
- All parties must gather as much information as possible while it is still available.
- Common risk factors for delayed or rejected claims:
- Cargo taken to distant cold stores or markets with a break in traceability (loss of pallet/container ID).
- Defects reported long after discharge, with missing or incomplete records of transport, storage, and handling.
- Lost or incomplete shipping information; containers shipped elsewhere and data loggers overwritten after three months.
- Data on transshipments, especially Partlow temperature charts and handling/transport data in transfer ports, are often unavailable after discharge. Shipping lines must retain copies of all relevant data.
6. Return of Logs and Voyage Data
- PPECB is legally responsible for ensuring all voyage information on South African export perishable produce is made available to them.
- Failure by shipping lines, airlines, cold stores, or transport operators to supply all relevant temperature logs and information may result in prohibition from participating in the export or carriage of perishable products from South Africa.