Lithium Batteries being carried out of DXB as hidden DGs
Was speaking to a friend the other day (no names or companies stated as he was speaking in confidence). He is fairly senior in a major freight forwarding company here in Dubai.
He told me they knew of regular shipments of Lithium batteries, clearly exceeding the ampere and weight restrictions for DGs, being shipped on passenger aircraft, with the documentation being deliberately falsified to hide the fact they are dangerous goods.
The client has some office worker sign the documents declaring the goods are not dangerous (the office worker probably doesn't even know what they are signing), and packages containing significant amounts of lithium batteries are sent on their merry way, without even proper packaging.
The shipper is well aware of the restrictions put in place after the recent crash of the 747 in Dubai, but hides the contents as it would seriously affect his business.
This is probably happening all the time, in many dodgy places around the world.
I was presented with a load sheet in Africa last year...5kg of lithium batteries, when the limit was (and still is I think) 400gm. When challenged, they came back and said it was a paperwork error..the actual amount was.....400gm!. I should never have accepted it, and certainly won't in the future.
This is another disaster waiting to happen. It needs to be raised at the highest levels.
Be careful (and suspicious) out there.