Dangerous Cargo Manifests

Anyone who ships hazardous materials on a vessel or barge must prepare a Dangerous Cargo ManifestListing of hazardous materials and substances transported on a vessel or barge. (DCM) or stowage plan for those materials (49 CFRCode of Federal Regulations (www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/cfr/). 176.30). On a vessel, the DCM must be kept in a designated holder on (or near) the bridge, in the possession of the captain or master. On a barge, the DCM must be kept in a readily-accessible location, and it should be in the possession of the captain or master. The DCM may be in a marked, tube-like container. A vessel's DCM must be submitted to the National Vessel Movement Center in advance of the vessel's arrival at a U.S. port.

A sample from a dangerous cargo manifest. The UN/NA number, proper shipping name, hazard class and division, and packing group are highlighted.

A DCM on a vessel or barge alerts you to the presence of hazardous materials on board, and their identities. Knowing a chemical's name and/or identification聽number(s) makes it possible to search for chemical data and response recommendations from CAMEO 365bet娱乐 and other sources.

However, DCMs can be inaccurate. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, cargo manifests may contain unreliable information and are sometimes vague or incomplete. One reason is that manifests are typically prepared by second-hand parties (ocean carriers), rather than the importer or exporter who has the most knowledge of the cargo. Another reason is that manifests have been used to disguise information about a container's contents, to prevent theft during transport. When possible, check other information sources to verify information about hazardous materials on board a vessel.

Basic Information on a Dangerous Cargo Manifest

A DCM must include the following information (49 CFR 176.30):

  • Information about the vessel or barge, including its name, official number, and nationality.
  • The UN/NA numberUnited Nations-North American number. (Also UN number or DOT number.) Four-digit number identifying an individual chemical or group of chemicals with similar characteristics. Required on shipping papers; often shown on placards. The four-digit number is often preceded by UN (such as UN1219). for each hazardous material on board.
狈辞迟别:听Multiple substances sometimes share the same UN/NA number. To be sure of a chemical identification, look for other identifiersNames, identification numbers, and other information used to identify a chemical., such as the shipping nameOr 'proper shipping name'. Either: (a) the specific name of a hazardous material that is frequently shipped (e.g., 'Ammonia, anhydrous'), or (b) the generic name for a less frequently shipped hazardous material, which categorizes the material by its family, its use, or a key characteristic (e.g., 'Acids, n.o.s.' or 'Flammable solids, n.o.s.')..
  • The shipping name for each hazardous material on board. This is the name of the material listed in the Hazardous Materials Table (49 CFR 172.101).
  • The hazard class or division number for each hazardous material, which indicates its hazards.
  • The number and description of packages (barrels, drums, cylinders, boxes, and so on), and the gross weight for each type.
  • The stowage location of the hazardous materials on board the vessel or barge.

The DCM also may show the packing groupMost hazardous materials are assigned a packing group, which indicates degree of hazard. Packing groups are indicated as either I, II, or III, with I representing the most severe hazard and III the least severe hazard. The packing group of a hazardous material must be shown on shipping papers. for the chemical. The packing group indicates the degree of hazard associated with the chemical's transportation (typically as PG聽I, PG聽II, or PG聽III). The highest-hazard group is Group I (great danger); Group II is next (medium danger), while Group III chemicals present the lowest hazard (minor danger).