Search for ships currently entered in the London P&I Club by their name or I M O number Search Search for correspondents in our global network by country/area or port/city Search Liquefaction – Potential Dangers of Indonesian Bauxite 12 July 2013 Members will be aware of the dangers associated with the carriage of cargoes that can liquefy from the various Circulars, News Alerts and Stop Loss articles issued by the Club over recent years. The primary focus of concern has been in respect of the carriage of iron ore fines from India and Brazil, as well as nickel ore from the Philippines and Indonesia. However, the Club has previously reported on possible liquefaction of Bauxite cargoes loaded in Brazil (for the relevant alert, please click here ). Recently, the Club has learned of the potential risks arising from the practice of using water cannons to wash Bauxite fines and lumps through sieves in mines in Indonesia. This process significantly increases the moisture content of the cargo, reportedly to approximately 15% by the time the Bauxite is placed in the storage area. This changes the properties of the cargo from one with a low moisture content that is not ordinarily prone to liquefaction, to a cargo which may liquefy during a voyage. Liquefaction of cargo results in cargo shifting and loss of ship stability, a major cause of marine casualties. As Members may already be aware, Bauxite is not a cargo one would ordinarily expect to be prone to liquefaction. The IMSBC Code as a Group C cargo i.e. a cargo not liable to liquefy but this categorisation is based on the Bauxite cargo having a moisture content between 0% and 10% consisting of 70%-90% lumps varying in size between 2.5 and 500 mm and 10%-30% powder. As we understand it the process that takes place in Indonesia of sieving the cargo to reduce lumps to below 100mm, not only reduces the particle size of the cargo (possibly to smaller than that specified in the IMSBC Code) but also increases the moisture cont