Industry gears up for transhipment VGM deadline

While things “have been progressing
smoothly” since the implementation
of the Safety of Life at Sea (Solas)
verified gross mass (VGM)
regulation on July 1, the inclusion
of transhipment consignments
on October 1 this year
could potentially tip the
scales, according to an
industry insider.
The IMO provided
a three-month grace
period to allow for cargo
that had been loaded
for transhipment before
the July 1 deadline. But
South Africa may not
be out of the woods yet
with regard to the VGM
regulations.
Addressing delegates
at the annual South
African Association
of Freight Forwarders
(Saaff) Congress 2016 in
Johannesburg last week,
Mike Walwyn, Saaff alternate director:
ports and marine portfolio, said: “I must
commend Transnet for their prompt
response in upgrading the Navis system
and ensuring a smooth transition for
exports out of South Africa, but I do
wonder a little bit about transhipments.”
Walwyn’s main question around
this is the issue of who would
be punished if there was a misdeclaration
on the weight of a
container. “It is not quite as cut and
dried as it is with straight exports,”
he said.
He also queried the fact
that, with SA shippers
largely adopting Method 1
(of two methods outlined
by the IMO), no-one
was checking that the
actual declared weight
was correct. “I suppose
time will tell if there
are problems and then
the industry will deal with
them,” said Walwyn.
Service delivery manager:
enterprise information
management systems at
Transnet Port Terminals
(TPT), Neelan Ranchod,
pointed out that since the
implementation of the
VGM regulation, the Navis
system upgrades seemed to be working
well.
“We are actively engaging with all
our customers and port stakeholders
to ensure another smooth transition
when we cut over to transhipments in
October,” he said.