Cargo insurers prepared for anything
When it comes to insurances, Alandia is prepared for anything. Through the years, the company has learned to handle for example avocados, live pigs, rallycross cars and an old DC-3 aircraft.
Cargo insurance is something Alandia has extensive experience of. No two transports are alike, and the conditions at the loading site can differ substantially from those at the destination. Alandia employs specialists who have come across almost every possible scenario and who have cultivated a network of highly skilled professional partners all over the world. The foundation for transportation insurance are the people who know how different goods need to be handled. Alandia’s operations also have the advantage of being managed through a cutting edge IT system. When it comes to cargo insurance, anything can happen. A wide variety of articles has passed through Senior Claims Handler Lars Laitinen and his colleagues’ skilled hands. For example, there was a transport of rallycross cars from one race to the next. And the old DC-3 aircraft that took its last trip from Skokloster to Karlsborg on a barge.
– All cargo transports as well as all customers are unique and therefore need unique solutions, Laitinen emphasizes. When it comes to transports, well planned is (at least) half-done, and Alandia is big on thorough planning, which we believe to be a tool that saves both time and money for everyone involved. The avocado transport, however, didn’t end too well. Without going into too much detail, it can be stated that a simple mistake resulted in the whole cargo being deprived of oxygen, which in turn led to a slow death by suffocation for these fruits that need much love and care to make it. Incidentally, tape-sealed ventilation holes onboard a ship do not count as love and care.
– Just like us humans, avocados need oxygen in order to survive. With the help of oxygen, the fruits can breathe aerobically, which is as it should be. When deprived of oxygen, the conditions
within these fruits become anaerobic, and they start producing alcohol (mainly ethanol), Laitinen explains.
And how is this discovered?
– Upon opening the container doors, one notices the pungent, unpleasant smell of fermented avocados (ethanol). One may also detect brown spotting on the fruit. Another clear sign is that the ripening process of the avocados has stopped completely.
The value of a container of suffocated avocados is around 50,000 euros, which is regulated in the client’s goods insurance policy. Following a discussion with the goods owner, a corresponding recourse claim is made against the responsible shipping company.
–It goes without saying that this can be avoided by thoroughly discussing the transport in advance.
Text: Jörgen Pettersson
Photo: Maria Rosenlöf
