Ship owners should get clear written statements confirming consignments do not contain radioactive materials, the UK P&I (Protection & Indemnity) Club has warned.
The club said there had been several incidents recently where scrap metal consignments from the Russian states, China and Egypt were contaminated with radioactive material.
It advised ship owners to ensure consignors have carried out surveys confirming there are no radioactive materials in their cargo.
"In some ports, operators should consider deploying hand-held gamma radiation monitoring instruments to check the authenticity of scrap metal cargo declarations and their sources," the club advised in its recent loss prevention bulletin.
If pipe work is cleaned, it can be carried without affect P&I Club cover but if consignments are waste for disposal, they will be excluded from cover as nuclear risks.
"Members should then check whether they are protected by a nuclear liability insurance arranged by the consignor," the club said.
Most contaminated scrap metal comes from military instruments, pipe work and metal from the nuclear power industry and pipe work from oil well drilling.
Radioactive material can be carried safely if it is correctly declared, packed and labelled.
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