Reference
Verified gross mass
Since July 2016 a packed container needs a verified weight before it goes aboard. The rule itself is short. The part that catches shippers is who has to sign it.
The rule
SOLAS chapter VI regulation 2, as amended, puts the verified gross mass of a packed container on the shipper. A carrier and a terminal operator cannot load a packed container aboard a ship without one. IMO guidance in MSC.1/Circ.1475 sets out the two permitted methods and defines who counts as the shipper for this purpose.
That definition is the trap. MSC.1/Circ.1475 points at the legal entity named on the bill of lading or sea waybill, or the party on whose behalf the contract of carriage was concluded. Check the draft bill before you assume the obligation sits with someone else.
We can weigh, calculate and transmit the figure for you. The responsibility stays with whoever the bill names.
The two methods
Both are valid. Method 1 suits anyone with a weighbridge. Method 2 suits a shipper packing a countable bill of materials.
| Method 1 | Method 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| What gets weighed | The container after packing and sealing, in one reading. | Each package and cargo item, plus pallets, dunnage and securing material. |
| Container tare | Included in the reading. | Added from the tare marked on the container door. |
| Equipment | Calibrated and certified weighing equipment. | Calibrated and certified equipment for the items being weighed. |
| Approval | None beyond the equipment certification. | The method has to be certified and approved by the competent authority of the state where packing was completed. |
| Suits | Anyone with weighbridge access after stuffing. | Shippers with a known, countable bill of materials. |
The sequence
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Confirm who the shipper is
Read the draft bill of lading. The entity named there carries the obligation, whatever the commercial arrangement behind it looks like.
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Weigh by Method 1 or Method 2
Pick the one your operation supports. If you go with Method 2 in the United States, settle the approval question before the container is packed rather than after.
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Sign it
A person the shipper authorises signs the verified gross mass, by name, in the shipping document. A weight with no signature against it does not satisfy the rule.
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Send it before the VGM cut-off
The line builds its stowage plan from these numbers, so the VGM cut-off tends to sit ahead of the cargo cut-off. See sailing schedules and cut-offs.
If the VGM is missing
The terminal leaves the container on the ground. It accrues storage, and it waits for the next vessel with space. The cost of that lands on the shipper, and a rolled container tends to cost more than the weighing did.
Related
Next step
Tell us what you are moving.
Send the commodity, the weight and dimensions, the origin and destination, and your target sailing. That gives us enough for a firm quote.