2 alternatives to weight the containers before shipping

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Under the SOLAS amendments, which enters into force next 1 of July, a container packed with packages and cargo items should not be loaded onto a ship to which the SOLAS Regulations apply unless the master or his representative and the terminal representative have obtained, in advance of vessel loading, the verified actual gross mass of the container.

The proportion of global container trade that is wrongly declared could be as high as 20% . Under the SOLAS amendments, which enters into force next 1 of July, a container packed with packages and cargo items should not be loaded onto a ship to which the SOLAS Regulations apply unless the master or his representative and the terminal representative have obtained, in advance of vessel loading, the verified actual gross mass of the container.

SOLAS establishes two permissible methods for weighing:

  • weighing the container after it has been packed,
  • or weighing all the cargo and contents of the container and stowing materials, adding those weights to the container’s tare weight as indicated on the door end of the container.

Estimating weight is not permitted.

It is the shipper’s responsibility to weigh the packed container or to weigh its contents. Under either method, the weighing equipment used must meet national certification and calibration requirements. Further, the party packing the container cannot use the weight somebody else has provided, except in one specific set of defined circumstances. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 7.2.1 permits using accurate weights that have been clearly and permanently marked on individual, original sealed packages.

But, what happens when the manufacturer has not provided the containers weight?. Now the question in the sector’s mind is, with just one month to go before the amendments to SOLAS, Chapter VI, Regulation 2 legally become effective on July 1, 2016, how are countries getting prepared for the forthcoming changes and how will shipping lines receive the VGM?

Whilst ports like Barcelona and Valencia are establishing procedures to declare the weight of containers, according to publications like “Diario del Puerto” there is a still great deal of uncertainty about how this requirement will be implemented in Spain.

Any doubt about the declaring accurate container weights?  Consult us.