The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has amended the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) to make it mandatory for containers to have their gross weight verified before being shipped. The regulation will come into effect worldwide on July 1, 2016. Elizabeth Turnbull and Marcia Peruca write about the obligations of shippers, carriers and ports terminals as a result, and what the industry should do to prepare. This paper focuses on the impact on shippers.

Part One: The impact on shippers

I. Background

Maritime container transport has been around for more than 50 years, and one wonders why the mandatory weighing of containers was introduced only this year.

False declaration of container weight can cause container stacking collapse, casualties and damage to equipment and cargo. Accidents caused by false declaration of container weight are not uncommon. Based on the purpose of reducing and eliminating accidents caused by container weight, the industry launched the initiative of mandatory container weighing. After years of consultation and discussion, the IMO Maritime Safety Committee adopted amendments to Chapter VI of the SOLAS Convention in November 2014 to make it mandatory for containers to be weighed. The amendment will come into effect on July 1 this year. This regulation will help the correct stowing of containers on the ship, reduce and avoid the occurrence of related accidents.

The introduction of the new regulations will affect all parties involved in the container transport supply chain, with shippers bearing the brunt.

What is a shipper

In order to facilitate the effective implementation of this regulation, IMO has developed the Guidelines for the Verification of the Weight of Containers for Cumulative Calculations (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines").

The Guide defines "shipper" as a legal entity or individual designated as shipper in a bill of lading or sea waybill or other equivalent multimodal transport document (e.g. through a "bill of lading") and/or a person who enters into a contract of carriage with a shipping company on his behalf or on his behalf.

In a practical working group, a shipper may be a cargo owner (goods owner or exporter), a non-vessel operating carrier, or a company or individual responsible for LCL.

3. Specific requirements

Three months before the container is to be shipped, the shipper decides what method to take to obtain the Total Weight verification (VGM).

(1) Selection of weighing method

The SOLAS Convention provides the following two methods for container weighing:

Integral weighing method: using verified and certified equipment to carry out integral weighing of cargo containers;

Cumulative calculation method: The weight of all packages and goods in the container is weighed by the weighing method approved by the competent authority of the country where the container is packed, and the weight of the chassis, liners, other fastening materials and the container itself is calculated by cumulative calculation of the overall weight of the cargo container.

The choice of weighing method depends entirely on the type of goods to be transported and the weighing facilities available to the shipper. For example, Method 2 cannot be used for goods that cannot be weighed independently due to their own characteristics, such as scrap iron, unpacked grain, and other bulk cargoes.

In order to obtain the VGM and other necessary certifications, shippers also need to carefully review the specific requirements of SOLAS Convention States parties regarding packaging and weighing. For example, the Circular (MNG534) issued by the UK Maritime Authority (UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency) states that those using Method 2 for weighing are to use an existing credit system (such as ISO9000), while those using Method 1 are to use their weighing and metering rules.

(2) VGM certificate

The shipper shall ensure that the container VGM Certificate is signed by the shipper or a person authorized by the shipper and shall, upon request by the Master or his representative, submit the VGM Certificate to the Master or his representative and to the dock representative in advance for the purpose of making stowing plans on board.

The shipper shall provide the certified gross weight of the cargo container to the master or his representative and the terminal operator as soon as possible in the form of a transport document, which may be part of the shipping instructions to the carrier, or a separate supporting document, and most importantly must indicate that its total weight is "VGM". The information may be submitted electronically and the signature may be the electronic signature of the carrier or the name of the authorized person (in capital letters) substituted.

Although the SOLAS amendment requires the shipper to deliver the VGM to the master and the terminal, the IMO Guidelines clarify that the shipper's delivery of the VGM to the master will allow the master to deliver the VGM to the terminal operator if the shipper has fulfilled its obligations under the Convention. However, the shipper is required to submit the weight verification letter to the terminal operator when the container is transported to the relevant facilities at the terminal.

The new rules do not specify when such information should be provided, only that it should be before a loading plan is prepared. In order to ensure the smooth loading of containers, the shipper must communicate with the carrier and the terminal operator in advance and specify the delivery time.

In addition, failure to comply with these provisions may result in severe penalties for shippers, which vary depending on the provisions of each State party.

In view of this, shippers should seriously consider the new provisions of the Convention and issues such as the distribution of costs and responsibilities related to container weighing in order to evaluate and modify the contract terms.