When the cargo declaration does not tell the whole story A practical review before loading solid bulk cargoes The cargo declaration is the starting point for safe carriage, not a substitute for scrutiny. A document may be signed, complete in appearance and accompanied by a safety data sheet, yet still identify the wrong Bulk Cargo Shipping Name, omit a decisive test result or describe hazards that do not fit the declared cargo group. Recent enquiries received by the Club show the same difficulty arising in different forms: pellets described only by a commercial name; mineral cargoes assigned to the less onerous schedule without the supporting particle-size or test information; and emerging biomass cargoes presented as Group C despite having no individual schedule in the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes Code. The lesson is not that the Master must become a chemist or reclassify the cargo. It is that inconsistencies should be identified and resolved before loading begins. The declaration has a safety function SOLAS chapter VI and section 4 of the IMSBC Code require the shipper to provide the Master or the Master’s representative with appropriate written cargo information sufficiently in advance of loading. This is intended to allow the ship to plan safe stowage, loading, carriage and discharge, rather than to regularise the position after operations have started. For a listed cargo, the declaration should use the correct BCSN and state the cargo group, applicable IMO class and UN number, quantity, stowage factor, bulk density, trimming information and other relevant properties. Depending on the cargo, this may include certificates of moisture content and transportable moisture limit, the potential to generate toxic or flammable gas, oxygen depletion, self-heating, corrosiveness, flammability, reaction with water and MARPOL Annex V status. The Code also makes an important distinction between identification and description. A trade name or commercial label may