Skip to main content

Tag: general average

Cargo on a freight truck speeding into the sun as a sample for how to keep goods cool in hot weather

Keeping cool in transit: how goods survive the heat

Written by Marvin Elson on . Posted in News and insights.

The bank holiday weekend is bringing the warmest weather of the year so far, with temperatures forecast to reach 30°C in parts of the UK. If that happens before Monday, it will be the earliest the country has hit that mark in over 70 years.

Good news for gardens and barbecues. Less straightforwardly good news for supply chains.

Because while we are all quietly hoping for another hour in the sunshine, somewhere out there a steel shipping container is sitting on a port terminal in direct sun, and it is not having a pleasant time.

The container problem nobody talks about

A standard dry freight container is essentially a steel box. Steel conducts heat extremely efficiently, which means that on a hot day (even a UK-level hot day) the temperature inside an unrefrigerated container can be significantly higher than the air outside it. On a day of 30°C ambient heat, internal container temperatures can reach 50°C or more. In hotter climates, 57°C has been recorded. That is not a storage environment. That is an oven.

And containers do not only sit in ports. They sit on the back of trucks in traffic. They wait at customs. They get stacked in yards. Every one of those moments is another opportunity for heat to build up.

This matters because the list of goods that are genuinely sensitive to heat is much longer than most people assume.

It is not just food and pharmaceuticals

The obvious candidates are well known. Fresh produce, meat, seafood, dairy, vaccines, medications. These have always been shipped under controlled conditions, and the cold chain infrastructure around them is mature and well understood.

But heat-sensitive cargo does not stop there. Here are some that might surprise you.

Electronics. Circuit boards and batteries are vulnerable to sustained heat. The kind of temperature swings a container can experience (cold overnight in port, scorching by midday) can cause condensation inside components, accelerate degradation, and in some cases trigger battery failure.

Wine. Wine exposed to temperatures above around 25°C begins to oxidise prematurely. Above 30°C, the process accelerates noticeably. A container of wine spending a few days in a hot port without temperature control can arrive technically intact but commercially compromised.

Chocolate and confectionery. Chocolate begins to melt at roughly 30–32°C, and once melted and resolidified it loses its temper: the precise crystalline structure that gives it its snap and gloss. A shipment of premium chocolate can arrive looking perfectly normal in its packaging and be entirely unsaleable.

Adhesives. Industrial adhesives often have tight temperature tolerances. Exposure to sustained heat can cause them to partially cure, change viscosity, or lose bonding strength before they are ever used.

Cosmetics and beauty products. Many formulations separate, discolour, or change texture when exposed to heat. The product may look fine in the bottle but perform very differently once applied.

Candles. They melt. Obviously.

The point is that plenty of ambient freight (goods with no refrigeration requirement on the label) quietly depends on not getting too hot. The assumption that temperature control is only for food and pharma is one that can be expensive to test.

How goods are actually kept cool

So how does the industry handle this? The answer ranges from the straightforward to the genuinely ingenious.

Reefer containers are the backbone of temperature-controlled ocean and road freight. Short for refrigerated, these are standard shipping containers fitted with integrated cooling units that can maintain temperatures anywhere from -60°C to +30°C with remarkable precision. Modern units can hold a target temperature to within 0.1°C. They run off the ship’s power supply at sea, and connect to shore power or a generator on land. For long-haul cold chain logistics, they are the standard solution.

What is less widely appreciated is how the air management inside a reefer works. Cold air is channelled underneath the cargo through specially designed T-shaped decking, flowing up through the load and circulating continuously. For cargo that respires (fresh fruit and vegetables produce CO2 and ethylene as they age), reefer units can also exchange fresh air at a controlled rate and manage humidity levels. It is a considerably more sophisticated system than simply “making it cold.”

Modified atmosphere (MA) containers go further still for certain perishables. By adjusting the balance of oxygen, CO2, and nitrogen inside the container, the ripening and ageing process of fresh produce can be slowed significantly, extending shelf life on long ocean voyages without additional refrigeration.

Dry ice has long been the go-to for smaller, high-value temperature-sensitive shipments, particularly pharmaceuticals. It sublimates at -78.5°C, leaving no liquid residue, and can maintain ultra-cold conditions in insulated packaging for extended periods. There is, however, a supply challenge emerging. Dry ice is made from CO2, and tightening CO2 availability (partly a by-product of reduced industrial activity) has created genuine supply pressure, with concerns about shortages continuing into 2026.

Phase change materials (PCMs) are increasingly filling the gap. These are substances engineered to absorb and release heat as they transition between solid and liquid states, making them a more controlled, more sustainable alternative to an ice pack. PCMs can be tuned to specific temperature targets, hold that temperature for longer than gel packs, and are reusable. They are becoming increasingly standard in pharmaceutical cold chain packaging and are making inroads into food logistics too.

Insulated packaging and thermal liners handle the last-mile challenge, where the cold chain is at its most vulnerable. Once a reefer container is unplugged and a shipment is broken down for delivery, maintaining temperature becomes a packaging problem. High-performance insulated liners, vacuum panels, and reflective materials can maintain conditions for long enough to bridge that gap.

Real-time monitoring has transformed the ability to manage temperature in transit. IoT sensors embedded in shipments now provide continuous temperature and humidity data, with alerts triggered the moment conditions drift outside acceptable parameters. The value is not just in knowing something went wrong. It is in being able to intervene before it does, or at least in having verified data for insurance and compliance purposes.

The handoff problem

One thing experienced cold chain operators understand that newcomers often do not is that temperature failure rarely happens in a single dramatic event. It happens at handoffs.

The moment between a reefer container being unplugged at a port and being reconnected to shore power elsewhere. The time a pallet sits on a loading dock while paperwork is processed. The last-mile leg in a vehicle without temperature control.

Each of these is a potential break in the chain, and the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Planning temperature-controlled shipments means mapping every one of those moments in advance, not just booking the right container.

Summer is a reminder, not an exception

UK summers are not the Gulf. But a heatwave pushing ambient temperatures to 30°C, with a heat health alert issued across the Midlands and south-east, is a useful reminder that temperature risk in freight is not just a concern for shipments to or from hot climates. It exists here, now, during the bank holiday weekend, in a container sitting in Felixstowe or on a truck in a Bank Holiday Monday motorway queue.

The businesses that handle this well do not wait for a damaged shipment to think about temperature management. They build it into their planning from the outset: understanding what their goods actually need, mapping the full journey, choosing the right solution for each leg, and making sure the data exists to verify that everything worked as it should.

The good news is that the solutions available today are better than they have ever been. The bad news is that the bank holiday weekend is still not long enough.

At Green Leaves Logistics, temperature management is part of how we think about every shipment. If you want to talk through what your goods actually need in transit and whether your current arrangements cover it, we are happy to have that conversation.

Banana made out of green leaves to illustrate the topic of Cargo Insurance and Green Leaves Logistics

Cargo insurance – what it actually covers, and why it matters more right now

Written by admin on . Posted in News and insights.

Most businesses shipping goods internationally assume they’re covered if something goes wrong. Some are. Many are not – or not in the way they think. With disruption escalating across key global shipping routes, now is a good time to understand what cargo insurance actually does and does not include.

Why this is worth revisiting now

In our recent article on the Strait of Hormuz, we looked at how the conflict involving Iran has effectively halted commercial shipping through one of the world’s most critical maritime passages. Carriers are rerouting. Surcharges are appearing. Schedules are shifting. War-risk premiums have risen sharply for vessels near the Gulf.

For businesses with goods in transit – or shipments planned in the coming weeks – the question of cover has become urgent. But cargo insurance is also one of those areas where assumptions tend to run ahead of reality at the best of times. Disruption just makes it more visible.

It’s worth taking a step back and looking at how cargo insurance actually works.

The carrier’s liability is not the same as insurance

This is the most common misunderstanding in freight. When a shipping line, airline or road carrier moves your goods, they carry some liability for loss or damage. But that liability is limited – sometimes very limited.

For sea freight, the Hague-Visby Rules govern carrier liability. They calculate compensation per package or per kilogram – whichever produces the higher figure. The standard rate is around 2 SDR (Special Drawing Rights) per kilogram, currently roughly £2 per kg. For high-value goods, that figure can fall well short of the actual loss.

For air freight, the Montreal Convention sets liability at approximately 22 SDR per kilogram. That is a ceiling, not a promise of full recovery.

Carriers also have a range of defences available. These include inherent vice (the nature of the goods causing the loss), inadequate packing, and acts of God. Any of these can reduce or remove their liability entirely.

Green Leaves Logistics, like all BIFA members, operates under the current BIFA Standard Trading Conditions. These also limit liability. The practical implication is clear: to protect the full commercial value of your goods, you need your own cargo insurance policy.

What cargo insurance typically covers

A standard marine cargo insurance policy – the term ‘marine’ applies even when goods travel by air or road – will typically cover:

  • Physical loss or damage to goods in transit
  • Loss or damage during loading and unloading
  • Theft
  • General average contributions (where a carrier sacrifices part of the cargo or vessel to save the whole)
  • Storage at a warehouse during the journey (on many policies)

The most comprehensive standard option is Institute Cargo Clauses (A). This is an ‘all risks’ basis – it covers all physical loss or damage except specific named exclusions. Clauses (B) and (C) offer progressively narrower cover. Most reputable freight insurers offer a choice. The right level depends on the nature and value of the goods.

What is typically excluded – and why war risk matters right now

Standard cargo insurance policies typically exclude:

  • War, strikes, riots and civil commotion (known as SRCC risks) – unless separately added
  • Inherent vice or the natural deterioration of goods
  • Delay – even when a covered peril causes it
  • Inadequate packing or preparation of the goods
  • Deliberate damage by the insured

The war exclusion is the most relevant issue right now. In normal circumstances, insurers can add war risk cover to a policy at relatively low cost. The separate Institute War Clauses exist for exactly this purpose. But when a region becomes an active conflict zone, insurers act quickly.

The London market’s Joint War Committee maintains a list of high-risk maritime areas. It has already extended its designations to include waters around Oman and parts of the Gulf following the current conflict. War risk cover for those areas has become significantly more expensive, harder to obtain, or subject to new conditions.

If you have shipments transiting the Gulf region, check now. If you arranged war risk cover before the conflict escalated, contact your insurer or broker. Confirm whether that cover remains in force, at what premium, and whether any new conditions apply.

The general average question

General average is one of those concepts most cargo owners never think about until it affects them. The principle dates back centuries in maritime law. It holds that if a carrier takes action to save a voyage – for example, jettisoning cargo or diverting to a port of refuge – all parties with a financial interest share the loss proportionally.

In practice, this means your goods can be undamaged and you still face a bill. You may have to contribute to losses suffered by other cargo owners, or to costs incurred by the carrier, before they release your shipment. These contributions can be substantial.

With cargo insurance that includes general average cover, your insurer handles that contribution. Without it, you face an unexpected financial demand before you can recover your goods.

General average declarations become more likely when carriers face difficult decisions about routes and diversions. That describes the current environment precisely. Make sure your cover is in place and up to date.

Practical questions to ask about your current cover

If you ship goods internationally on any regular basis, work through these questions with your insurer or freight forwarder:

  • Is war risk included, or is it a separate add-on? Many open cover policies include it as standard; others do not. Check the wording.
  • Does your cover reflect the full commercial value of your goods? Underinsurance is common. A policy should cover the invoice value, freight costs, and a margin of around 10% for replacement.
  • What clauses apply? Institute Cargo Clauses (A) offer the broadest cover. If your policy sits on Clauses (B) or (C), understand what that means for the risks you face.
  • Are your goods covered during storage in transit? Route disruptions mean shipments are spending longer at ports, warehouses and transhipment hubs. Check whether your policy extends to cover that time.
  • Are you covered for all modes? Some shippers are now moving goods by sea and then air to avoid the Gulf. Check that your policy covers the full journey, not just one leg.
  • Who declares the claim, and how? The process matters as much as the policy. Know your insurer, how to notify them, and what evidence you’ll need.

A note on delay

Most cargo insurance policies do not cover financial loss from delay. This applies even when the delay results from a covered event such as a vessel diversion or port closure. If your goods arrive three weeks late and you face penalties, lose a contract, or incur demurrage charges, standard cargo insurance will not help.

Delay is a separate risk to manage. Review your contractual terms with buyers and suppliers. Build in buffer stock where possible. Keep close contact with your freight forwarder when disruptions arise. It is also worth reviewing your Incoterms arrangements – the point at which risk transfers determines who bears the commercial consequences of delay.

How we can help

At Green Leaves Logistics, we arrange comprehensive cargo insurance cover tailored to your shipments. That includes war risk, general average and multimodal cover where needed. We work with experienced marine insurance specialists and can help you understand what your current policy includes – and what it doesn’t.

If you have shipments in transit right now, or planned movements through regions affected by the conflict, it’s worth a conversation sooner rather than later.

Get in touch with the team at via our contact page or call us on 0121 361 0333.

Related reading