The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted a new requirement under the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Chapter VI, Part A, Regulation 2. The new container weight verfication rule will go into effect on July 1, 2016, and will impact shippers from 171 countries due to the added requirements of necessary documentation.
This amendment to SOLAS states that the shipper is responsible for providing the container’s gross verified weight to the ocean carrier and port terminal representative prior to the container being loaded on a ship; regardless of who packed the container.
According to the World Shipping Council, “a verified container weight is a condition for loading a packed container aboard a vessel for export. The vessel operator and the terminal operator are required to use verified container weights in vessel stowage plans and are prohibited from loading a packed container aboard a vessel for export if the container does not have a verified container weight.”
This means that containers cannot be loaded onto any ship subject to the SOLAS regulations unless the vessel master and the terminal operator have obtained verified gross weight of the container in advance of loading.
Key Information:
Understanding the new Container Weight Verification Rule and the recommended methods for determining weight of your packed container:
- What is SOLAS? The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea(SOLAS) is an international maritime safety treaty. It ensures that ships flagged by signatory States comply with minimum safety standards in construction, equipment and operation. The SOLAS Convention in its successive forms is generally regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships.
- When does the new weight verification rule become effective? July 1st 2016
- How does the shipper determine the verified gross weight of the packed container? The shipper (named on the carrier’s bill of lading) may use one of the two methods according to the World Shipping Council to determine the verified weight of the packed container:
- Method 1: Upon the conclusion of packing and sealing a container and using calibrated and certified equipment, the shipper may weigh, or have arranged that a third party weigh, the packed container. SOLAS Regulation, paragraph 4.1; IMO Guidelines, paragraph 5.1.1 The scale, weighbridge, lifting equipment or other devices used to verify the gross mass of the container must meet the applicable accuracy standards and requirements of the State in which the equipment is being used. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 7.1.
- Method 2: The shipper (or, by arrangement of the shipper, a third party) may weigh all packages and cargo items, including the mass of pallets, dunnage and other packing and securing material to be packed in the container, and add the tare mass of the container to the sum of the single masses of the container’s contents. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 5.1.2.
- The weighing equipment used to weigh the contents of the container must meet the applicable accuracy standards and requirements of the State in which the equipment is being used. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 7.1.
- The tare mass of the particular container is visible on the exterior of the contianer and should be used. IMO Guidelines, paragraph 12:1.
- Estimating the weight of the container’s contents is not permitted.
MIQ Logistics is closely monitoring the SOLAS Container Weight Verification Requirements and will provide additional guidance on our Ocean Freight Forwarding Market Update page, as they become available.
For more information, please contact your local MIQ Logistics representative.