Lines to fine overloaders

4 Aug 2000 - By Staff reporter

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Containers will be weighed at
random, writes Alan Peat

SHIPPERS OR agents who misdeclare container weights are going to get slapped with a hefty penalty fine by the shipping lines.
If the declared weight (gross of container plus contents) on the transportation or loading documents is wrong by plus/minus 500 kilograms or more, a penalty of US$300 for a 20-foot (6-metre) container, and US$600 for a 40-ft (12-m) will be imposed.
The offenders will be identified by a random container weighing, with the cost borne by the lines.
First announcement of this was made on July 18 by P&O Nedlloyd (PONL). But an FTW investigation revealed that Safmarine (on all its trades), Maersk and SAECS (SA Europe Container Service) are all in the process of following suit. FTW was authoritatively assured that it would also extend to the Safari (Far East) and Safbank (USA) trades.
The reasoning, according to PONL director, Wim Lagaay - but confirmed by all the other shipping line contacts - is the sheer frequency of incorrect weight declarations, and the safety and management problems it is creating.
It has a serious impact in a number of critical areas, he said The safety and stability of the vessel is one. Lives and assets - ours and those in our care - are put at risk
The necessary changes to the planned stows affect the productivity of the loading operation, lead to additional expense, and have a repercussive effect on other port users.
For shippers, the most intimate problem is that - with the capability of the vessel to load the forecasted weight adversely affected - there is likely to be a shut-out of other cargo.
In the same vein, Safmarine's Keith Lee Shew suggested that this was an effort by the lines to change the market place culture where misdeclaration (either deliberate or through ignorance) seems unimportant.
We want them to understand what all the serious implications are, he added.
And, added Lagaay, we believe we have the support of the exporting community to ensure safe standards of practice for the carriage of their goods.
They do - in principle - according to Nolene Lossau, executive director of the SA Shippers Council.
We understand, she told FTW, and don't have difficulty with the reasoning.
You should make a correct declaration - and, in this, safety is our main concern.
And, while Lossau feels the penalties are steep, she also accepts that it will help to gain attention to what is now almost an endemic problem.
But, she stressed, there must be some arbitration or appeal procedure.
We must be notified of misdeclared weights, and given the option of stopping that box. You must have the facility to do something about it.
The other question raised by shippers, according to Lossau, is: Are the lines prepared to guarantee the container tare weight is the same as declared on the plate?
If the container has been repaired or rebuilt, this could very easily add quite a bit of weight to the box. And a 500kg leeway for error is not very much.
Forwarders also accept the seriousness of the problem, according to Gavin Cooper, chairman of SAAFF (SA Association of Freight Forwarders) in the Western Cape.
From a Cape Town point-of-view, he told FTW, misdeclaration has been raised at Port Liaison Forum meetings.
We're very concerned.
Cooper also sees the problem extending to road transport.
With the open gates policy at the harbour, said Cooper, we've got all sorts of trucks going in-and-out, even those without container twist-locks.
Add those and an overweight container and you've got a serious accident waiting to happen.
The bottom line is the lines, forwarders, hauliers, stevedores et al have a problem - and it definitely needs to be addressed.
But what peeves Cooper is that the lines are going ahead with this without any previous discussion with the affected parties.
Everybody, including the lines, he said, blames Portnet for this sort of unilateral action. But here we have the lines doing it as well.
There should have been dialogue first.
This because the penalty is automatically imposed against the declared weight - whether up-or-down, and 500-kgs is not a big variance, according to Cooper.
A law abiding shipper might be confident about what weight he has put into the box, he said, but - without a weighbridge - he can't be sure what the gross (declared) weight actually is.
And what if it's a light box? The shipper should benefit, but here he actually gets penalised.
Cooper also questions how the lines are going to assess an individual box's weight if three are delivered on an interlink - a vehicle which can carry three 20-ft containers.
The lines admitted to FTW that these details were still being worked on, but they will bear any costs involved - and the basic concept still remains.
We sympathise, said Cooper, but all this needs to be explained.