Mislabelling of machinery

A marine surveyor carried out a preshipment inspection of two consignments of trucks, cranes and other equipment. The consignments were due to be sent to two different ports in South America. As part of the inspection the marine surveyor was required to ensure that every item was correctly labelled.

When the shipment of cargo arrived at the first port, Customs realised that the majority of the cargo had incorrect labelling. Some of the labels did not correspond to the correct chassis numbers on the vehicles and some of the labels referred to the wrong destination.

Customs seized the vehicles and equipment, resulting in the consignee having to hire replacement trucks for several months, whilst the issue was resolved. It took over four months for the equipment to be released by Customs resulting in total claims against the marine surveyor for US$ 68,260 which was paid by ITIC.