The Weekly Roar

Alternative Container Weighing Verification Methods for the US

The U.S. Coast Guard approved two alternative methods for obtaining certified container weights to comply with new international regulations: one proposed by agricultural shippers and another proposed by the South Carolina Ports Authority.

The move paves an easier path for exporters, particularly agriculture shippers, but it’s not yet certain how container terminals and carriers will respond individually. The announcement from the USCG, the U.S. agency tasked with implementing the SOLAS amendment, comes just a few weeks before the new requirements making container weight verification a condition for vessel loading legally binding on July 1, 2016.

“That statement may trigger some further consideration by terminal operators about their policies on providing SOLAS-compliant container weights using their existing scales,” John Butler, president and CEO of the World Shipping Council, said in a statement Friday.

In a letter sent to the International Maritime Organization, the USCG repeated its stance that there are multiple ways to meet the IMO’s new SOLAS rule mandating no container shall be allowed to board a vessel without an accompanying verified gross mass, or VGM. Shippers, carriers, terminals and maritime associations have outlined multiple acceptable methods for providing VGMs to carriers.

A couple examples are: (1) the terminal weighs the container, and when duly authorized, verifies the VGM on behalf of the shipper, and (2) the shipper and carrier reach agreement whereby the shipper verifies the weight of the cargo, dunnage and other securing material, and the container’s tare weight is provided and verified by the carrier.

The first method is one that was originally floated by the SCPA. The authority announced in February that it would be willing to weigh containers on site in order to help shippers comply with the new IMO rule — making the Southeast port the first and only U.S. port to do so to date.

Under the plans that Jim Newsome, SCPA president and CEO, has drawn up and circulated to customers, the Port of Charleston would offer to weigh export containers with its weigh bridges currently used to comply with existing Occupational Health and Safety Administration rules. The cost to the shipper will be $25 per container.

Newsome has repeated on a number of occasions that the service is not significantly different from the operations and procedures already in place, due to OSHA regulations.

For the purposes of determining the VGM of a container, any equipment currently being used to comply with federal or state laws, including the Intermodal Safe Container Transportation Act and the container weight requirements are acceptable for the purpose of complying with SOLAS.

Source: JOC

Stay tuned to our blog for more information about SOLAS requirements and the upcoming changes in 2016.

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