INDEPENDENT SENIOR ADVISORY
Dangerous Goods and cargo-safety decisions require experienced judgement.
Ken Rohlmann supports shipping lines, ports and terminals, logistics providers, marine insurers and P&I clubs when complex cargo-safety issues have operational, regulatory or commercial consequences.
Dangerous Goods · Maritime and multimodal cargo safety · Incident and casualty advisory · Expert witness work
20+ years
International Dangerous Goods and cargo-safety experience
Senior global leadership
Responsibility across international shipping operations
Maritime and multimodal
Dangerous Goods across sea, road, rail and inland waterways – air transport excluded.
Independent support
Advisory, on-site advisory support, incident and expert witness matters.
WHEN INDEPENDENT JUDGEMENT ADDS VALUE
When cargo-safety issues become business-critical
A Dangerous Goods question rarely remains within one function. The same decision may affect people, vessel and terminal operations, customer commitments, regulatory exposure, claims and corporate reputation.
01
DANGEROUS GOODS AND CARGO SAFETY
The rules do not provide a complete operational answer.
Regulatory requirements may be clear in principle, while the available facts, jurisdictional context or operational constraints still leave the responsible course of action uncertain.
02
DOCUMENTATION AND PRE-VOYAGE REVIEW
The documentation does not resolve the real cargo risk.
Declarations, safety data and supporting documents may be incomplete, inconsistent or formally acceptable while still leaving material questions about the cargo and the required operational response.
03
INCIDENTS AND CASUALTIES
An incident requires calm, independent interpretation.
Leadership, insurers, P&I interests or legal teams may need a technically grounded view before the full picture is available and before assumptions become established positions.
04
CARGO SCREENING AND ALERT CLEARANCE
Screening alerts are creating workload without sufficient clarity.
Automated findings require contextual review, proportionate escalation, experienced clearance and visible management support. More alerts do not automatically create safer operations.
05
GOVERNANCE AND OPERATIONAL CAPABILITY
Procedures exist, but operational control remains inconsistent.
Roles, decision rights, training, systems and KPIs may not be sufficiently aligned with the realities of day-
to-day cargo operations and management accountability.
Expert Witness
Technical clarity for complex Dangerous Goods and cargo-safety matters
Ken Rohlmann provides independent expert witness and technical advisory support relating to Dangerous Goods documentation, IMDG Code interpretation, operational cargo decisions, maritime incidents and casualties.
Engagements are subject to an initial scope, conflict and confidentiality review.
The Five-Dimension Cargo-Safety Decision Framework
The right decision must survive more than one test.
Compliance is essential, but high-consequence cargo decisions also need to work under real operating conditions and remain credible under commercial, contractual and external scrutiny.
A high-consequence cargo-safety decision should be tested across five dimensions:
01
Safety and people
Could the decision expose people, assets or the environment to avoidable harm?
02
Regulatory integrity
Is the position defensible across the relevant rules, jurisdictions and contractual responsibilities?
03
Operational viability
Can the decision be implemented under actual operating conditions, available resources and time pressure?
04
Commercial consequence
How could customers, partners, schedules, claims, market access or capital be affected?
05
Reputation and trust
Would the decision remain credible if reviewed by customers, authorities, insurers or other external stakeholders?
Independent judgement connects the five dimensions without allowing one perspective to obscure the others.
Who we support
Supporting decision-makers across the cargo ecosystem
The same cargo issue looks different from the boardroom, the vessel, the terminal, the logistics network and the claims environment. Advice must reflect each stakeholder’s responsibility without losing sight of the overall risk.
Shipping Lines
Cargo acceptance, Dangerous Goods decisions, screening, incidents, global procedures and management governance.
Ports and Terminals
Dangerous cargo processes, escalation, inspection-program governance, operational coordination and incident preparedness.
Logistics Providers
Documentation, multimodal responsibilities, customer communication, misdeclared cargo and operational procedures.
P&I Clubs
Member support, Dangerous Goods questions, casualty interpretation, loss-prevention insight and independent technical input.
Marine Insurance
Technical interpretation, pre-loss risk, claims support, incident review and governance implications.
Ken Rohlmann
Judgement shaped by global responsibility
Ken Rohlmann brings more than two decades of international experience across Dangerous Goods, cargo safety, maritime operations, governance and global supply chains.
His background includes more than a decade as Senior Director and Global Head of Dangerous Goods, Military and Waste Cargo at a leading international container shipping group, followed by a Vice President role with an international cargo-safety organisation in New York.
Today, he provides independent senior advisory and expert witness support where technical facts, operational reality and enterprise consequence must be considered together.
Independent
A perspective shaped by the issue, not by internal hierarchy or predetermined positions.
Discreet
Sensitive questions handled with professional restraint and appropriate confidentiality.
Operationally grounded
Advice shaped by responsibility for real-world cargo decisions across international shipping operations.
Selected insights
Independent analysis for complex cargo-safety decisions
Practical commentary on Dangerous Goods, the IMDG Code, undeclared and mis-declared cargo, screening, incidents and operational governance.
DANGEROUS GOODS AND IMDG CODE
IMDG Code compliance and
operational judgement are not the same thing
Why regulatory compliance is essential but may still leave leadership with a wider operational decision.
CARGO SCREENING AND ALERT CLEARANCE
Why cargo-screening alerts require expert clearance and management support
Automated findings are only the beginning of a controlled and accountable decision process.
DOCUMENTATION AND CARGO RISK
When Dangerous Goods documentation is complete but operational questions remain
Formal completeness does not always resolve uncertainty about the actual cargo risk or required response.
Confidential initial discussion
The right moment is before complexity becomes consequence.
A first conversation can help clarify the issue, the decision that cannot wait and whether an independent senior perspective would add value.
Please do not send confidential documents until the scope and an appropriate communication channel have been agreed.
Hamburg, Germany · Internationally available