Almost every claim we see on a first shipment falls into four patterns, and three of them are decided before the container is sealed. None of them are the shipping line's fault, which is why they are so hard to recover afterwards.
1. Edge damage on sheet bundles
Sheet and plate arrive with the bundle edges dented, folded over, or cut through by the strapping.
Two causes. First, lifting. A bundle lifted with a forklift under the straps instead of a proper spreader puts the whole load's weight on two thin lines, and 2 mm plate folds. Second, tension. Steel strap tightened to hold a 3-tonne bundle will cut into the edge of the top and bottom sheets by the time the container crosses an ocean, especially with vibration.
What prevents it: edge protectors on all four long edges, corner boards at the strap points, and lifting points marked on the bundle. If the loading photos show a forklift under a bare bundle, the claim has already happened; you just have not seen it yet.
2. Surface scratches from grit between sheets
The sheets arrive with a pattern of fine scratches, sometimes a cloudy patch where one sheet has rubbed against another for six weeks.
Aluminum oxide is harder than aluminum. A single grain of sand or a chip of mill scale trapped between two sheets, plus 40 days of ship vibration, polishes a mark into the surface that no amount of downstream processing removes.
What prevents it: interleaved paper or PE film between sheets for any cosmetic or anodizing-grade order, and a clean, swept container floor. For anodizing quality, the interleaf is not optional — the anodizing bath will amplify every surface mark rather than hide it.
3. White rust and moisture staining
The coil or sheet arrives with white, chalky patches, or a mottled dark stain that will not wipe off.
This is condensation, and the mechanism is worth knowing. A container loaded in a warm, humid Chinese port and discharged in a cold European winter cycles through large temperature swings. Moisture in the air, in the wood dunnage, and in the packing material condenses on the coldest surface in the box — which is the metal.
What prevents it:
- Desiccant sized to the container volume and voyage length, not a token bag hanging by the door
- VCI film or paper for the coil wrap, which passivates the surface rather than just covering it
- Dry dunnage — kiln-dried lumber or plastic, not green wood
- PE wrap on the coil eye, sealed, so humid air cannot enter the bore
A container with no desiccant arriving in winter is a claim waiting to be filed.
4. Coil telescoping
The coil arrives with the inner wraps pushed out sideways, like a telescope. Sometimes the whole coil has deformed and is unusable for automatic feeding.
Cause: the coil was shipped eye-to-sky with nothing to stop the inner laps from sliding, or was laid on its side without a saddle so the weight of the wrap bore on one point of the bore.
What prevents it: eye-to-sky orientation, a wooden or plastic saddle matched to the coil diameter, circumferential strapping through the eye, and chocks nailed to the container floor. A coil is a spring with three tonnes of stored energy in it; it must be restrained, not just placed.
What a proper packing spec looks like
| Product | Wrap | Interleaf | Protection | Restraint |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sheet / plate, anodizing grade | PE film outer | Paper or PE between sheets | Edge protector, corner board | Steel strap + VCI |
| Sheet / plate, mill finish | PE film outer | Optional | Edge protector | Steel strap |
| Coil, eye-to-sky | PE + VCI film, sealed eye | — | Desiccant in bore | Saddle, radial strap, chocks |
| Foil | Carton + PE | — | Corner protection | Pallet strapped to floor |
| Extrusion | Shrink or paper wrap | — | Cardboard on corners | Bundled, strapped, blocked |
Add to all of the above: desiccant sized for the voyage, container floor clean and dry, and a photo set of the packed container interior before the doors close.
The photo set that decides the claim
If damage does happen, the money is recovered or lost in the first week after discharge. Take these photos, in this order, before anything is unloaded:
- Container doors closed — sealer number legible, container number legible
- Doors open — the load as first seen, before touching anything
- The damage — wide shot then close-up, with a scale reference
- The packing — how it was wrapped, whether the desiccant was still sealed
- The whole consignment — so a surveyor can identify which bundles were affected
Then:
- Notify the supplier and the insurer in writing within the notice period in your contract — usually 7 days, sometimes 3. A verbal call to the forwarder does not preserve the claim.
- Keep the damaged material exactly as it is until a survey is done. Once it is cut up or scrapped, the claim is usually closed.
- Commission a third-party survey (SGS, BV, or a local marine surveyor) for anything above a few thousand dollars. Insurers accept a surveyor's report far more readily than a buyer's photographs.
Insurance does not cover bad packing
ICC(A) — the widest standard marine cover — excludes loss caused by insufficient or unsuitable packing. That clause is where most aluminum damage claims die, because the insurer's surveyor will find that a coil with no saddle was inadequately packed, and the claim is declined regardless of how clearly the photos show the damage.
Which means the packing specification is not a quality preference. It is the condition your insurance is written against.
Put it in the order, not in the email afterwards
The packing spec has to be in the quotation, agreed before production, and photographed at loading. Written into the order it costs a small amount per tonne. Raised after the container is on the water, it cannot be changed at all.
If you have a shipment arriving and are not sure what was specified, ask for the loading photos now. It is a two-minute question while the container is at sea and an expensive one after it is discharged.