Making a ship safe for cargo delivery is one of the toughest tasks in maritime industry. There is a lot of pressure on the crew and the shipping company when it takes off for a voyage. The cargo area must be kept dry at all times so that the goods inside will not be harmed. Millions of dollars are paid each year by the maritime industry in the form of damages and claims filed by angry customers. Water is the biggest enemy of goods and it can severely harm precious goods when it enters the cargo area.

It has been pressed time and again for the shipping companies to run a tightness of hatch with ultrasound on their cargo ships before setting off for a voyage. Running the ultrasonic test on the cargo ship alerts the crew about the possibility of ingress of water. If there are holes big enough that will let the water to enter the cargo holds, it will be able to point out the holes. It is up to the crew and the management to decide if they are willing to take the risk. If the goods are damaged during the voyage, the shipping company would have to pay for the damages. For the safety of the customers, the goods are insured. The damages that occur on the company’s part are paid to the customers.

Unfortunately most of the shipping companies prefer to take the risk than send the ship for repairs. Taking such risks is discouraged by the laws and safety departments, but most of the time these laws are ignored by the management of the shipping companies. They prefer to take a chance and set sail, after all, the more voyages they make the more money they earn. Sending a ship for repairs will be costing money; this is not good news so the company management often ignores it.

Ignoring the hatch cover ultrasonic tightness testing can lead to much worse results than just damaging the cargo. The crew and the ship are also put at risk when there are unknown leaks lurking in the ship’s body. Some ships in the past have capsized and drowned due to excessive water entering the ship’s body. This not only ended up in drowning the entire goods, but it also took many precious lives which can never be replaced. Running a test should never be delayed and the fearsome results should never be ignored otherwise the outcome can be very cruel.