Tank container inspection and flexitank checks explained

Liquid cargo that goes by road travels in a road truck, in a tank container or in a standard container with a flexitank (a flexibag) inside. The surveyor inspects the inside of a tank container, not the outside, checks the last three cargoes, and records the identification of the unit and the weights before and after loading.

What is inspected

The outside of a container does not interest the surveyor. The inside of a tank container does: it has to be clean and suitable for the cargo, as any tank does. The last three cargoes of the unit are checked in the same way as for a ship's tank, against the lists that apply; see FOSFA banned and acceptable previous cargoes and the cargo inspection checklist.

What is registered

Only three things go in the record:

1. the identification of the unit (the number of the container or truck);
2. the last cargoes;
3. the weights, before and after loading.

One inspection for trucks and containers

An inspection of a tank container and an inspection of a road truck are the same job, and one checklist serves both. For the documents that belong to each, see cargo documents by transport mode: a CMR note, an LCI and a weighing ticket.

Weight

Containers and road trucks always go over a weighbridge. A draft survey is for ships only and only when there is no other way. The weighing ticket shows gross, tare and net weight per unit; the weight certificate explains how the figure comes about.

What a flexitank changes

A flexitank is a bag placed inside a standard container, so the container is the unit that is identified and weighed. It goes over a weighbridge before and after loading, and the difference between the two weighings is the weight of the cargo in the bag; the record stays the same three items.

Before the bag is installed, the container itself is looked at. IUMI's guidance on flexitanks says to check the container for damage, sharp edges and contamination, to confirm that it is clean, dry and suitable, and to record its condition inside and outside with a checklist and photographs. CEFIC's best practice guidelines for flexitanks (July 2023) likewise put a visual check of the outside and inside of the container before installation, and add checklists for filling and for unloading. The Container Owners Association's recommended code of practice for flexitanks covers the selection of containers suitable for carrying a loaded flexitank, with condition criteria. Britannia P&I reports several flexitank claims, mostly related to loading, stuffing and filling.

Based on the working practice of our sector specialist: 25 years in the port, 20 of them as a cargo surveyor. The record stays short on purpose: identification, last cargoes, weights before and after.