IMO Committee Put Forward Draft Proposals for Safety at Sea Policy Changes
UK – WORLDWIDE – The two options which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) was pondering on this week at the meeting of the Sub-Committee on Dangerous Goods, Solid cargoes and Containers (DSC), regarding the future weighing of shipping containers prior to export, and which we wrote about earlier this month, have been considered and a recommendation will be forwarded to the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) for approval. The decision taken has pleased the UK organisation representing the country’s forwarding community, the British International Freight Association (BIFA).
Although the committee will remain in session until the 26th or 27th, details of the preferred choice of draft amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) chapter VI has been decided upon. In an ideal world the obviously preferable option would be for all 20’ and 40’ boxes to be weighed prior to loading at the port, this also being the preference of many labour organisations, particularly given the amount of deaths and injuries caused historically by misdeclaration of weights. The vast diversities in size, quality of staff and equipment and the different nature of the huge number of global ports concerned always made this an unlikely choice.
The second option, and the one adopted and put forward to the MSC by the committee, requiring mandatory verification of the gross mass of each container, is that the draft amendments will add new paragraphs to SOLAS regulation VI/2 Cargo information to require the shipper of a container to verify the gross mass of container, and to ensure that the verified gross mass is stated in the shipping document. The packed container should not be loaded onto the ship if the verified gross mass has not been provided or obtained.
To enable this, the gross mass of each container will have to be verified by either weighing the packed container using calibrated and certified equipment; or by weighing all packages and cargo items and adding the tare mass (mass of an empty container) to the sum of the single masses. What is not clear at this stage, and what the unions will no doubt be keen to clarify, is who will be authorised to declare the verified weights and from whom will they gain that authority.
The Sub-Committee further agreed that an exemption to the requirements would apply when containers carried on a chassis or trailer are driven on or off a Ro/Ro ship engaged in ‘short international voyages’, another detail requiring clarification. The draft proposals were given qualified support by BIFA, whose Director General, Peter Quantrill, said:
“The compromise proposal was most probably the best possible outcome and BIFA will now work with its members to work out how they comply with the requirements of the new rules when they come into force, without adding significant costs or causing supply chain delays. BIFA notes that the proposal still has to navigate several stages through the IMO’s legislative process and, if successful, will most likely not come into force before May 2017.
“We understand that the draft guidelines will now be forwarded to the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) for approval in May 2014, and assuming that approval is forthcoming at that meeting, be formally adopted at a further meeting of the MSC in May 2015. It is usual for there to be a 24 month waiting period before SOLAS amendments take effect. Clearly the implementation of the new rules is a lengthy process that should give the industry time to adapt and allow our members time to make sure that they continue to comply with their responsibilities to make accurate cargo declarations.”
Container weighing issue
Bromma says that weigh bridges and twistlock sensors are the answer to the container weighing issue
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has lent its support to compromise proposals for the verification of container weights at ports.
But what has been described as a “good day for maritime safety” by the Global Shippers Forum (GSF) doesn’t detract from the fact that the outcome is slightly wishy-washy - according to some.
The IMO sub-committee on Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and Containers has proposed two methods for container weight verification, which it says will cause minimal disruption to the supply chain.
The first method strengthens the responsibility of shippers to verify the weight of a container by weighing it in its entirety. The second method of verification allows shippers to use a calculated option where all packages and cargo items can be weighed and then added to the weight of the container.
Lars Meurling, Bromma Conquip, told Port Strategy that he welcomed the news, but that the effort needed to make this happen should not be underestimated.
Bromma’s role in the debate so far has been to let the various stakeholders know that technology exists to successfully implement weight verification at a reasonable cost and with limited effects to terminal operations.
Mr Meurling points towards weigh bridges as one possible solution. He added: “I believe that technology where the container can be weighed without affecting the operations in the terminal will be seriously considered by the operators. Solutions where sensors are installed on the spreader twistlocks can measure the weight as part of the regular lift cycle at a high accuracy.”
Not everyone’s happy with the news though. The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) says that the IMO has missed an opportunity to help improve the safety of port workers by making it mandatory to weigh all containers and providing repercussions for those who mis-declare.
It says that giving shippers the second option is a compromise that in some countries is “likely to be bedevilled by the "who will certify, when and how?” question.
If the IMO compromise proposal is accepted by SOLAS, it must then be adopted by the next IMO Maritime Safety Committee meeting scheduled for May 2014.
Mandatory weighing increases security
IMO's Sub-Committee on dangerous goods, solid cargoes and containers (DSC) recommend new international (SOLAS) regulation, which states that containers must not be transported by sea before they are weighed, and the shipper has informed the ship on the correct weight of them.
This is an initiative that Denmark has helped to initiate and facilitate in the IMO. The reason was repeated collapse of container stacks falling overboard containers and a number of shipping accidents where it later emerged that there were major differences between the stated and the actual weight of the onboard containers.
As container ships get bigger and bigger, it will be important for the stability of the vessel and thus also the security that one can calculate the total weight of the load.
The proposed new SOLAS regulation expected to be approved by the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) in 2014.
The correct weight can be determined in two ways. This can be done by weighing the loaded container at an approved weighing station or - by an approved method - to ensure that each device in the container is weighed and combined with container weight.
As container ships get bigger and bigger, it will be important for the stability of the vessel and thus also the security that one can calculate the total weight of the load.
The proposed new SOLAS regulation expected to be approved by the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) in 2014.
The correct weight can be determined in two ways. This can be done by weighing the loaded container at an approved weighing station or - by an approved method - to ensure that each device in the container is weighed and combined with container weight.
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