TT Club noted the issue was discussed by a subcommittee of the International Maritime Organization in September 2011 “and it has been left with the World Shipping Council to lead an informal correspondence group in order to identify what specific legal change is required and develop practical guidance as to how the change can be implemented and enforced.”
“It is, of course, critical that all those interested in the supply chain and affected by any proposed change in regulation have a ‘seat at the table’. Thus, apart from liner shipping companies and Maritime Administrations, there will need to be representation from shippers, forwarders, consolidators and terminals. And, of course, a broad spectrum of insurers will also participate. This work will be brought back to the sub-committee in September 2012 and – assuming that there is agreement – will then be proposed to IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee in May 2013 for implementation.”
TT Club said while there has been some feedback that it would be wasteful to weigh empty containers, 53 percent of those surveyed did not favor the exemption. A 2009 accident in the port of Bremerhaven, in which container stacks collapsed on the ship Husky Racer, was blamed on containers that were thought to be empty, but were each actually loaded with 15-30 tons of cargo.
TT Club said 70 percent of the respondents thought there ought to be allowed a “modest tolerance between declared, certified and actual weight,” 88 percent thought container weights should be done “at the earliest possible point in the transport (such as the point of packing or consolidation)” and 81 percent thought a certified weight receipt should accompany documentation.
The insurer said while its survey did not ask respondents to identify what business they were in “separate email correspondence evidences that there was representation across the industry, from liner operators, forwarders and terminals.”
