GT Nexus: SOLAS container weight regulations remain unclear

Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission is calling for carriers and shippers to work together to find a solution so exports are not left on the docks for lack of verified gross mass documentation come July 1.    In advance of a hearing Thursday morning by the U.S. House of Representatives Coast Guard and Maritime Subcommittee that included testimony about the new requirement that shippers provide the “verified gross mass” (VGM) of containers before they are loaded on ships, a shipper group called for clearer guidance on the provision and members of the Federal Maritime Commission also weighed in on the issue.
   The GT Nexus Shipper Council, which represents over 70 major shippers, is calling for clearer guidance on the VGM rule, an amendment to the International Maritime Organization’s Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention that takes effect on July 1.
   The council said it was unclear on why shippers should be required to certify the weight of equipment they do not own, whether or not shippers can use an estimated or “generic” tare weight to allow VGM submission before cargo is loaded, and how shippers can communicate VGM quickly enough to ensure containers loaded a short distance from the terminal do not arrive at the terminal gate prior to the VGM information.
   “Despite recent guidance from the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association, there continues to be a general lack of clarity among the shipping community as to acceptable tolerances, who is legally responsible, how or if ports and terminals will be involved, and what happens in situations such as near-dock loading, street turns, and supplier compliance,” the GT Nexus Shipper Council said. “Considering that there are multiple ports, countries and carriers each developing their own guidelines, the need for a global process standard is critical.”
   Speaking at the Global Liner Shipping Conference in London earlier this week, FMC Commissioner William Doyle lent support to the call by another group, the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, to make carriers responsible for reporting the weight of the actual container and shippers responsible for the goods they are placing in the containers.
   A report in Lloyd’s List said Doyle called on shippers and ocean carriers to come together and find a solution, saying it would be unacceptable for U.S. exports to be left at the dock for lack of a VGM.
   Doyle told American Shipper said he was a “quintessential optimist and that the parties will come to agreement and I am willing to help facilitate that.”
   Commissioner Richard A. Lidinsky said he seconded Doyle’s remarks.
   But he also added “We are witnessing a foreign carrier lobby group attempting to hijack the agenda of an U.N. agency whose purpose is to ensure the safety of those in the global maritime industry.”
   Last month, European port organization FEPORT also agreed the container weight verification guidelines did not provide enough guidance. “A lack of national guidelines will ultimately provoke confusion in the implementation and will have an adverse impact on operations and lead to possible competitive distortion,” FEPORT said.