Maritime transport labels

Goods transported by sea have to meet a number of different requirements to be placed on board a ship. One of these is the correct description. This is particularly significant when hazardous items are involved. An appropriately designed label must indicate all potential hazards associated with the type of goods being transported.

This is meant to ensure that anyone handling it knows what precautions to take. To this end, the indications used on the labels are standardised. By doing so mistakes are avoided, which otherwise could have dire consequences, both for people and the environment. In addition, sea transport labels enable products to be tracked along the route of their transport, and also prevents their possible loss.

Two standards for the labelling of transported hazardous products are commonly used in maritime transport. The BS 5609 Section S2 and S3 certification and the GHS Standardisation of Classification and Labelling Systems specify the durability of the label used in maritime transport, indicating which materials must be used for their manufacture and application.

Among other things, these standards state that:

• This type of label and adhesive used for its application should be able to withstand varying weather conditions, including UV radiation and the effects of sea salt for a period of 90 days. Even in the event of a shipwreck, we must be able to see what has been sunk.
• The overprint should be made with a method that ensures readability not only during transport, but also in hazardous conditions, where the label will be subjected to the above-mentioned immersion in salty seawater for up to three months.

In practice, this means that only materials, adhesives and printing methods that have passed relevant durability tests are used in this type of labelling.

Libeli offers both printed and blank labels that meet all the requirements of BS 5609 certification and GHS standardisation and can be successfully used in the large-scale maritime transport sector.