The Association has been alerted to the risk of possible liquefaction of cargoes of bauxite that may originate from Malaysia and Indonesia. Members are advised to urgently consider this issue if they are fixed or are planning to fix a vessel for such a voyage. Prepared with the Assistance of Brookes Bell. Is bauxite cargo at risk of liquefaction? There has been some debate on this issue, not least because bauxite cargo may come with a particle constituency of varying sizes and dimensions which could see cargoes be a mixture of fine particles, smaller particles as well as lumps and rocks. Under the IMSBC Code the cargo has been described as Category "C", neither prone to liquefaction (Category "A") nor possessing a chemical hazard (Category "B"). In practice, however, the Association has had experience of shipments of bauxite which appeared to show signs of liquefaction and indeed expert advice on the issue would suggest that depending on the composition of the cargo, it is possible for liquefaction to occur. Particularly this may be the case where the cargo is pre-filtered to separate fine and large particles, water may be introduced in to the cargo in this process and / or the cargo has undergone some other form of partial processing / crushing. Depending on the particular circumstances of any given shipment, it would appear that bauxite may come with the risk of liquefaction. As such it may not be safe to assume that simply because a cargo has been declared by the shippers to be Category "C", that in fact it is. Wet bauxite cargo IMSBC Code provisions Under the Code, bauxite is stated to be a Category "C" cargo, with the following cargo composition: Size 70% to 90% Lumps : 2.5 mm to 500 mm 10% to 30 % powder When the cargo consists of such a particle size and distribution - with over 2/3 majority of the cargo being in the form of lumps - the IMSBC Code  would appear to  state that the cargo is not prone to the risk of liquefaction. That may not be a safe