A number of forwarders
are concerned about
the freight industry’s
readiness to meet the
July 1 implementation of
the Solas amendment –
demanding the verified
gross mass (VGM) of each
container being shipped
out of the country.
Also, with Transnet Port
Terminals (TPT) making
allowance for the transit
time through the terminal
stacks to the ship's side
on that date, it has fixed
June 27 as the first date on
which VGMs will become
necessary. And that’s only
10 days after the date of
this issue of FTW.
One of the concerns is
that every shipper will have
to have some weighing
method and the equipment
to measure that mass
accurately. Method 1 being
the weighing of both box
and contents together, and
Method 2 being the mass of
the cargo contents and the
accompanying dunnage,
with the tare weight of the
box added.
And one forwarder was
adamant that Solas was
“impossible” to implement,
because that equipment
just didn’t exist.
He was also convinced
that this would lead to
lots of additional charges
to weigh cargo if you were
going the Solas-suggested
Method 2 path. An amount
that was estimated at
around R700 to R900
a pop. Added to that,
even the mobile guys are
charging R750 to come out.
The sheer cost of
weighbridges was also
still a deterrent factor
for most of the mediumsmall
shippers. The likes
of Sappi was mentioned,
it having purchased its
own weighbridge (to follow
Solas Method 1) because
of the volumes and bulk
of the cargo it exports.
“But,” FTW was told, “not
everyone can do that.”
And talking about
equipment, it has to be
“approved” by the agents
appointed to audit the
industry’s compliance.
And that, said another
forwarder, was a real
problem. A small number
of agents for the many
hundreds, if not thousands,
of shippers and packing
stations around the
country. Even the fruit
export industry, FTW was
told, has up to 700 loading
stations.
Concerns raised over Solas-related charges
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