Still no solution for groupage cargoes under new Solas regs

Preparation for the new
container weight safety
regulations is under way
the world over despite
scepticism over the
readiness of industry at
large.
As of July 1, in terms of
the International Maritime
Organisation’s Safety of
Life at Sea amendment
(Solas VGM), no container
will be cleared to be loaded
onto a ship until the
shipper or its designee has
provided a verified weight
to the carrier.
“In South Africa so far
only one company has been
appointed as the third
party company to approve
and issue verified gross
mass (VGM) certificates
for the new regulations,”
said Mike Walwyn,
chairman of the Cape’s
Port Liaison Forum (PLF).
It is not known if
more companies will be
appointed and if so, when,
but with 90 days to go till
implementation it is hardly
likely they will be able to
accredit every shipper in
the country in time.
“A meeting in Zurich last
week again highlighted
some concerns from
freight forwarders about
the regulations. There is
as yet no solution as to
how groupage cargoes are
going to be dealt with,”
said Walwyn. “It’s a can of
worms that no-one really
knows how to solve, but
the bottom line is that
from July 1 no container is
going to be allowed into a
terminal without a VGM.”
He said whilst there
were some countries that
had done very little, others
were fast becoming more
organised.
“In places like China
there has been very little
preparation, while the
Europeans have been
very organised about the
process.”
Walwyn
said in
South
Africa there
was still
uncertainty
and lack
of clarity,
but some
companies
had seen
opportunity
in it all
with one
terminal
operator
installing weighbridges
at all its terminals across
the country ahead of the
regulation.
MSC has also annouced
a new partnership with
INTTRA, the world’s
ocean shipping electronic
marketplace, introducing a
customer-friendly solution
that will be implemented
on a global basis.
The innovative software
will make it easy for
shippers
to submit
VGMs
digitally.
“We
believe
this tool
will help
minimise
potential
disruption
to our
customers’
shipments
and
additional
costs associated with
terminal storage or
transportation,” reads
a statement on the
partnership.
It is accepted that for the
new regulation to work,
common technology and
business process standards
will have to be implemented
for it across industry.
INSERT & CAPTION
It’s a can of worms
that no-one really
knows how to solve.
– Mike Walwyn