NYK’s Bill Ferguson told the Critical Commodities Conference this week that carriers must refuse loading to a container without Verified Gross Mass data submitted or risk insurance issues.
A representative of the ocean carrier NYK Line this week told a conference in New Orleans that if the verified gross mass data is not submitted for a container, the carrier will not load that container when it arrives at a U.S. port.
Bill Ferguson, vice president, security services and environmental affairs for NYK Line (North America) reiterated a stance made by carriers in recent weeks as enforcement of the International Maritime Organization’s Verified Gross Mass (VGM) guidelines become clearer.
Speaking at the Critical Commodities Conference in New Orleans, Ferguson said it was likely that carriers would establish a so-called VGM cutoff one hour before existing cargo cutoff times. The VGM cutoff time would be related to shippers (who are responsible for calculating the verified weight) at the time of booking confirmation.
Ferguson did, however, say that the VGM cutoffs wouldn’t be absolute. Just as carrier work with shippers when containers don’t meet cutoffs to ensure a box is loaded, the same spirit is likely to occur with the VGM data submission.
The issue of VGM has caused consternation in the shipping and forwarding community for two primary reasons – a lack of clarity on implementation of the guideline, and doubt over how it will be enforced and who will enforce compliance. Ferguson said carriers will abide by the guideline in order to ensure that they don’t violate insurance covenants.
The VGM rule is an amendment to the IMO’s existing Safety of Life at Sea convention, which is designed to protect the safety of seafarers. The VGM amendment was developed globally to help vessel operators and terminal operators jointly plan stowage of ships more effectively to avoid accidents at sea.
Donna Lemm, a representative of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC), argued during the panel that the rule was unnecessary (since export shippers already declare the weight of their cargo) and also unenforceable because the IMO guideline is not a law.
“We are reporting in a compliant manner today,” she said.
The AgTC has been among the most vociferous opponents of the way the VGM rule is being implemented.
“There’s a big difference between awareness and readiness,” Lemm said.
She said most exporters are aware, but most ag shippers are working on small margins and very few are ready. Most don’t even have a field for tare weight in their systems (one of the ways the IMO has said shippers can verify the weight of their containers is to add the weight of their cargo and packaging and add it to the tare weight of the containers).”
Lemm said many shippers see the VGM issue as one of carriers pushing more liability onto shippers. However, Ferguson said there has been little pushback from NYK’s customers on the issue.
NYK rep reiterates no VGM, no load
