We ask that you inform us of your complaint or damage as soon as you can. Please consider the following points:
- Report the complaint or damage to the Hamburg Süd office nearest to you.
- Notify your cargo insurance provider. It will normally handle everything from there and inform you of the next steps.
- Consult your insurer to commission an appraiser to inspect possible damage. This is ideally done while the cargo is still in the container, so you can determine the exact cause of the damage.
- Inform your direct contact person who is to accept the container – usually the warehouse, terminal, or carrier.
- If the problems are related to how the cargo was secured or packaged (FCL container), you should also notify the dispatcher of the goods.
- Ensure that the goods are stored in a secure, protected place after unloading and available for any further inspections.
- Minimize potential damages by either recycling or reselling damaged goods or by responsibly disposing of unusable goods once the investigations are complete.
Complete documentation is required to process cases of damage and loss. For this purpose, we need you to provide us with the following documents:
- Bill of lading / sea waybill
- Commercial invoice for the goods
- Packing list of the container
- Customs declaration
- Handover certificate of carrier or interchange
- Appraiser’s report, incl. photos
- Calculation of damages incurred
- Any proof of standing to sue
- Any other important cargo documents, such as temperature logs for reefers, veterinarian certificates, proof of sale or recycling of damaged goods, etc.
- Once we have received your documents, we will send you a confirmation of receipt. We review each case carefully and get back to you as quickly as possible.
Submit your documents to the Hamburg Süd office nearest you or e-mail them to the following address (as appropriate):
customer.cargoclaims@hamburgsud.com (HQ address)
We do all we can to render our services with the highest quality and avoidance of damage. You can also help to prevent damage and irregularities:
- Choose a suitable container in the right size for your cargo.
- Only load your cargo into containers that are dry, clean, undamaged, and free of odors.
- Ensure that your cargo is packaged in accordance with cargo requirements and secured so that it cannot move around.
- If you have temperature-sensitive cargo, select the required temperature and air circulation settings and ensure that the container shows these settings.
- Make sure that temperature-sensitive freight has been correctly pre-cooled and that the reefer is properly loaded.
- Do not load the reefer above the red line.
- When transporting dangerous goods, make sure that the container and packaging are properly labeled for compliance.
- Close the container properly and seal it with DIN/PAS 17712 bolt seals.
- Return the empty container to us promptly, clean and undamaged.
Do you have any further questions? Feel free to contact us:
Preventing damage and loss: HAM-LOSSPREVENTION@hamburgsud.com
Processing damage: customer.cargoclaims@hamburgsud.com
