Ahead of the implementation of the International Maritime Organisation Safety of Life at Sea (Solas) requirement that a packed container's gross weight be verified before the container can be loaded on board a ship, carriers have been advised to prepare for the change.
UK law firm Clyde & Co says there are a number of issues that a carrier needs to consider.
“The Solas amendment and the IMO guidelines do not lay out specific deadlines for the shipper to submit a weight certification, leaving it to the parties in the supply chain to make their own arrangements,” according to information supplied by the company. “The IMO guidelines provide that "[t]he master or his representative and the terminal representative should enter into arrangements to ensure the prompt sharing of verified container gross mass information provided by shippers. Existing communication systems may be used for the transmission and sharing of such verified container gross mass information."
The World Shipping Council advises carriers to provide shippers with "cut-off times" within which the carrier must receive the required container weight certification from the shipper for ship stowage planning. This is in line with the IMO guidelines which provide that "it is the responsibility of the shipping company with whom the shipper enters into a contract of carriage to inform the shipper, following prior discussions with the port terminal, of any specific time deadline for submitting the information."
Carriers have also been advised to take other steps to facilitate compliance, such as providing an online database of tare weights for their container fleets to assist those shippers using method 2, ie, weighing all packages and cargo items and adding the tare mass.
“If a signed weight certification is not provided by the shipper, the carrier can refuse to load the container or, alternatively, he can weigh the container. How the costs will be apportioned will depend on commercial considerations. However, as the shipper is ultimately responsible for verifying the container weight, the carrier may be able to pass on any costs it may have incurred in determining the container weight to the shipper.”
