Anxiety As IMO Mandatory Container Weighing Comes Into Force

In Nigeria, it is still promises, even as the much-expected International Maritime Organisation (IMO) mandatory container weighing  regime kicked of last Friday globally.
The new regulation requiring the verified gross mass (VGM) of all seaborne containers to be submitted before they can be loaded aboard ship comes into force today.
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) said the amendments to SOLAS regulation VI/2 will assist in ensuring that the 170million containers carried on ships each year are optimally stowed, thereby helping to prevent container stacks collapsing and containers being lost overboard, and the associated injury and loss of life.
Overweight containers have been seen as the cause of a number of casualties including the MSC Napoli.
But in Nigeria, the only time anything was said about it was in March, 2016 when the Federal Government assured that it would establish weigh-stations at the nation’s seaport to beat the new law.
The new law makes it compulsory for all consignments meant for export to be weighed before leaving their port of origin.
In March, the Ministry of Transport had said that government was considering whether to construct the weigh-stations directly before concessioning them or construct them on a Public-Private Partnership basis.
The ministry noted that a recommendation to that effect from the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) was being expected at the end of the just concluded workshop themed, “Transport cost and regional connectivity of African countries.”
The Shippers’ Council had also said that it was considering the option of allowing terminal operators to handle the weighing of such consignments but reasoned that the terminal operators may use it as a means of further exploiting Nigerian shippers.
But, stakeholders at the Abuja workshop had kicked against the 1st July, 2016 commencement date because most countries in the sub-region except Ghana are not ready.
They were however reminded by the Secretary General of Global Shippers Forum, Chris Welsh,  who was a resource person at the workshop that the new law was passed by the IMO in 2014. Welsh said member countries had the opportunity to contest the implementation last year before the agreed implementation date this year.
Two methods can be used to assess the VGM of packed containers, either weighing the packed container using calibrated and certified equipment [‘Method 1′] or weighing all constituent parts in the load, including pallets, dunnage and other securing materials, and adding all these together (Method 2)
IMO stated that it is the shipper’s responsibility to ensure that the VGM of each packed container is stated in the shipping document, a signed copy of which must then be submitted to the ship’s master or his representative, and to the terminal representative, in good time for the ship stowage plan to be drawn up.
“If not, the container shall not be loaded onto the ship,” it states.
Cargo insurance specialist TT Club has said that “clarity” is required in tacking the new requirements.
It notes that a number of container terminals around the world have now announced arrangements to assist shippers with Method 1 while for Method 2, shipping lines are posting the tare weights of their containers online to assist with the calculation.