Call for IMO action on overweight containers

Call for IMO action on overweight containers    The World Shipping Council and the International Chamber of Shipping called Wednesday for the United Nation’s International Maritime Organization to establish an international legal requirement that all loaded containers be weighed at ports before they are stowed aboard a vessel for export.
   Overloading of containers creates dangers to containerships, their crews, and other personnel throughout the transport chain, they said.
   The two groups said there is no available data that reliably indicates how many containers are overweight, but said the problem 'is significant, and arises in almost every trade to some extent. In some geographic trade lanes, the problem is common and, at times, rampant.'
   'Shipping lines have reported that in severe cases, the overweight or incorrectly declared weights reach 10 percent of the total cargo on board a vessel. Some carriers report that it is not uncommon for actual total cargo weight aboard ship to be 3 percent to 7 percent greater than the declared weight.'
   The groups listed problems resulting from overweight containers:
   ' Incorrect vessel stowage decisions.
   ' Restowage of containers (and resulting delays and costs), if the overweight condition is ascertained.
   ' Collapsed container stacks.
   ' Containers lost overboard (both the overweight and containers that were not overweight).
   ' Cargo liability claims.
   ' Chassis damage.
   ' Damage to ships.
   ' Stability and stress risks for ships.
   ' Risk of personal injury or death to seafarers and shoreside workers.
   ' Impairment of service schedule integrity.
   ' Supply chain service delays for shippers of properly declared containers.
   ' Last minute shutouts of confirmed, booked and available loads when the actual weight on board exceeds what is declared, and the total cargo weight exceeds the vessel limit or port draft limit.
   ' Lost revenue and earnings.
   ' Liability for accidents and fines for overweight containers on roads, and resulting time and administrative efforts and costs to seek reimbursement from responsible parties.
   ' Impairment of vessels' optimal trim and draft, thus causing impaired vessel efficiency, suboptimal fuel usage, and greater vessel air emissions.
   In 2008 the council and chamber published a book Safe Transport of Containers by Sea, Guidelines on Industry Best Practices, but they say the guidelines 'have had little discernible effect on reducing the incidences of shippers' providing incorrect container weights, or on ensuring that marine terminals verify the weight of loaded containers upon receipt/prior to loading.
   'In the absence of a legal requirement that marine terminal operators perform a weighing function for all loaded (stuffed) containers before vessel loading, it seems likely that a substantial number of containers will continue to go unweighed and that overweight containers will continue to pose a risk,' they said.
   In the United States, the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations require loaded cargo containers to be weighed to obtain actual gross weight before being loaded aboard ship, and that demonstrates weighing boxes can be done without disrupting terminal operations, said a spokeswoman for the World Shipping Council.
   'The IMO should establish a universal international regulatory requirement that export cargo containers must be weighed by the marine terminal upon receipt and before vessel loading, and that the actual container weights be made available to the vessel operator and used for vessel stowage planning,' the council and chamber said.
   They noted there are varying contexts or definitions of what an 'overweight' container is.
   The most common overweight situation is when the actual container weight exceeds the shipper's declared weight.
   A loaded container can also exceed road weight limits, rail weight limits or crane lifting limits, though sometimes heavy boxes can be accommodated by using, for example, special chassis with additional axis or by driving over designated roads.
   Manufacturers also place weight limits on containers, flat racks and other equipment that vary according to how the equipment is built.
   The council and chamber said they would work with other parties towards having agreement at the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee meeting in May 2011 to include the issue of overweigh in the IMO's work program so that a specific proposal is introduced to amend the Safety of Life at Sea convention. ' Chris Dupin