One of the main problems our clients from all different
industries encounter in terms of damage of cargo in transit is the moisture and
condensation – especially on those shipments with long transit time. It is
common practice to use moisture absorbing ‘desiccant’ bags in order to minimize
the risk – but once saturated, they serve no further purpose. Also the risk is rather
the condensation, which will happen depending on the dew point. Desiccant bags
may marginally reduce the dew-point-threshold, but they can’t eliminate the
risk of condensation.
The Relative humidity of an average shipment can easily vary
between 40% and 90%. However, the up and down of the relative humidity is not always
relevant and most likely will not affect the cargo as the container is a closed
ecosystem.
Assuming a temperature of 11.5 °C with a relative humidity
of 91% inside the container would lead to a dew point of 10.1 °C. Desiccant bags may
reduce the relative humidity inside the container to 89% or 85%, which reduces
the dew point only marginally to 9.8 °C and 9.1 °C, respectively.
If the outside temperature however in this example falls below 9 °C, condensation will happen and affect the cargo quality.
Attached picture shows the impact of condensation along the
walls for a container full of coffee beans.
Thanks to real-time cargo monitoring, the shipper can be
informed immediately when condensation most likely is happening and/or give a
condensation-risk-forecast based on local weather forecast. It enables the
shipper to make decisions on
- reposition container
- inspect container
- claims handling
- proactively inform client
At the same time, real-time monitoring also allows to
- detect holes in the container, through which water can enter the container
- improve the end-to-end performance,
- improve the security
All this information allows to optimize supply-chain processes, mitigate future risk, reduce insurance premium and capital cost.
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