Requiem for a heavyweight: VGM is for real

The U.S. Coast Guard may be prompted to provide more clarification on details contained in the pending Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) container weight rule soon, say maritime analysts.

Following a meeting of U.S. lawmakers in Washington last week, it remained unclear if compliance suggestions posed by the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTc) or the South Carolina Ports Authority would be considered.

As noted in LM, shippers are voicing their concerns that the rule will cause havoc to their supply chains if implemented by the July 1 deadline.

They maintain that millions of dollars in additional annual costs will be be added to meet SOLAS, while others say they will simply cut back on shipments.

Verified Gross Mass (VGM) advocates say the rule is designed to address mis-declared container weights that have contributed to vessel accidents worldwide.

Agriculture exporters argue that the alternative approaches should be explored to protect them from added liability for low-value exports. The weakened U.S dollar has exacerbated this situation, they say.

But the World Shipping Council (WSC) – the leading trade group representing the international liner shipping industry – says this would hurt port productivity.

The terminals and container lines will require the verified gross mass declaration for a container days before ships depart in order to make stowage plans, but the proposed alternative methods of capturing a so-called VGM not only stand to delay that process but disrupt trade altogether, the WSC says.

At the Port of Oakland – California’s third largest ocean cargo gateway – the issue was raised to even higher prominence last week.

The Oakland MTO Agreement (OAKMTOA), comprising the three marine terminals serving the port, announced that all member terminals are incapable of providing verified gross mass (VGM) weighing services that adhere to the SOLAS guidelines scheduled to go into effect on July 1.

The guidelines, which are amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), require shippers to notify ocean carriers of the weight of containers before they are loaded onto a ship.

The collective announcement by the member terminals was based on the lack of terminal infrastructure necessary to obtain VGMs using the methods specified within the guideline amendments.

Individual member terminals will establish and communicate their own policies for handling VGM procedures at their terminals.

The Oakland MTO Agreement is filed with the Federal Maritime Commission, and comprises the three marine terminal operators serving the Port of Oakland.

This comes on the heels of similar statements made by terminal operators in Southern California.