Allianz: Prevention Measures Crucial to Tackling Risk of Battery Fires in Shipping

M/V FELICITY ACE vessel fire off the Azores (Photo source: Portuguese Navy. Twitter)// Barco M/V FELICITY ACE dispara frente a las Azores (Fuente de la foto: Armada portuguesa. Twitter)

BY: Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty

As a key component of electric vehicles (EVs) or electronic devices, the transport of highly inflammable lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries is increasingly impacting shipping safety as demonstrated by a number of fires on vessels such as roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) car carriers and container ships. Given the many difficulties involved in suppressing battery fires, particularly at sea, focusing on loss prevention measures is crucial, whether batteries are transported within EVs or as standalone cargo, according to a new risk bulletin from marine insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS). “Shipping losses may have more than halved over the past decade, but fires on board vessels remain among the biggest safety issues for the industry. The potential dangers that the transportation of lithium-ion batteries pose if they are not stored or handled correctly only add to these concerns, and we have already seen a number of incidents,” explains Captain

Rahul Khanna, Global Head of Marine Risk Consult-

ing at AGCS. “Companies should do all that they possibly can to implement, develop and follow robust loss prevention measures, given the growing popularity of electric vehicles means many more vehicles with lithium-ion batteries will be transported by sea in future.”