Who is the gatekeeper in Solas amendments?

Industry has called on
shipping lines to provide
urgent input into the ongoing
debate around readiness and
practicallity issues ahead of
the July 1 deadline for the
implementation of Safety of
Life at Sea (Solas) regulations
on the verification of the
gross mass (VGM) of packed
containers.
This after a workshop
hosted by the Exporters’ Club
Western Cape (ECWC) in Cape
Town last week where Kirsty
Goodwin of the South African
Maritime Safety Authority
(Samsa), David Davids of
Transnet Port Terminals (TPT)
and several other experts gave
some insight into Solas and its
requirements.
“Samsa is applying the rules
and regulations and TPT
is working towards finding
a way to address some of
our concerns on how we are
going to be transmitting the
VGM, but what is happening
from a shipping line point of
view?” was
the question
raised by
one of the
delegates.
“Who is the
gatekeeper
in all of this,”
was one of
the questions
posed to
Goodwin by
the audience.
“Who or what
is the final
check?”
She said
Samsa was
responsible for applying the
rules and regulations and
would ultimately in the case
of something going wrong be
involved in handling it on a
“case by case” approach.
“But we are not going to
check that the information
supplied is correct for each and
every container,” she said.
TPT agreed saying they
would not weigh containers
or cargo or verify any
information.
“Essentially industry
remains in the dark about
shipping lines’ position on all
of this,” a source told FTW.
“Industry is asking at what
point does a line take the
commercial decision to not
load boxes and what is the
recourse when they do? Or is
there no recourse? How are
the lines going to verify the
weight being given to them
is correct? What is the
process and what is the
ultimate sanction? Is
the shipping line the
gatekeeper and what
is the gatekeeper’s
actions and control in all of
this.”
He said there were far more
questions than answers at
present and the shipping lines
were remaining mum on it all.
Malte Kersten, GM
operations and customer
service at DAL Agency, said
that the lines’ engagement with
Transnet with regard to their
processes (Navis) was ongoing
and hence the lines might have
not all the answers.
“In addition it’s worth
mentioning that the shipping
lines are only at the receiving
end of the information. It is
the shipper’s duty to obtain the
VGM for the container, as they
are packing the cargo into the
container and are the only ones
to provide the weight.
“The lines will receive
and use the information
as intended by the Solas
amendment, but they are
not in a position to
verify or police the
information from
the shippers.”
INSERT & CAPTION
The lines’ engagement
with Transnet with
regard to their
processes (Navis) is
ongoing and hence the
lines may have not all
the answers.
– Malte Kersten