Episode 2: CSC badge and ACEP - explanation of abbreviations and inspection criteria

CSC

The „Convention for Safe Containers "was founded in 1972 by the IMO (International Maritime Organization) and adopted into German law in 1976 with publication in the Federal Law Gazette.

It is a set of rules that is intended to ensure that all container manufacturers and owners manufacture, test and repair the means of transport worldwide according to uniform criteria. The set of rules is technically condensed by some ISO standards.

The CSC rule stipulates that the containers are regularly checked after their commissioning and repaired if necessary. The first test period is 5 years and every further 2 ½ years or 30 months.

This test date must be on the CSC badge that every seaworthy container must have. The letters and numbers on the badge must be at least 5mm tall and permanently legible.

Episode 2: CSC badge and ACEP - explanation of abbreviations and inspection criteria

Upper third

The CSC badge can be viewed in three sections.

The upper third contains the following information:

• Output of the CSC rule under which the container construction was approved - GB (Great Britain) is the country code in the example image.
• Approval authority (BV = Bureau Veritas) and the year
• Type designation of the container by the manufacturer
• Serial number of the container at the manufacturer

Middle third

• Owner or operator of the container
• Information on the treatment of the wooden floor and year
• Manufacturer of the container

Lower third

• ID number for the approval of this container
• Commissioning month / year
• ID number of the container
• Max. total mass in kg / LBS
• Shear force on the structure of the container when it is damaged
• Field for the inspection date or ACEP registration

The font size of "CSC SAFETY APPROVAL" must be at least 8 mm.

IICL

Even if many containers have obvious damage, they must comply with CSC rules. The test according to CSC or ACEP is carried out in accordance with the regulations of the "Institute of International Container Sessors (IICL), the global organization of container rental companies. These regulations describe in detail which types of damage / types of damage must be repaired.

Dimensional tolerances are specified and also the manner in which a repair must be carried out properly. E.g. in the form that holes in the floor up to a maximum of 22 mm diameter can be repaired with hardwood plugs if they are not closer than 50 mm to the edge of the base plate.

As soon as the empty container arrives at the depot, it is visually inspected by a container checker. It determines whether the container is OK and only needs to be cleaned, or whether a more detailed examination of the repair costs is required.

Inspection criteria

The picture shows an excerpt from the inspection criteria (source: HCS-Hamburg)

Experience shows that the repair costs for damage are often billed to the last user of the container. All container users are therefore well advised to check the container carefully and, if necessary, to document defects in a checklist and with photos. In critical cases, the shipping company / forwarding agent should be consulted prior to loading in order to agree on how to proceed.

This can prevent bad surprises.