Resumen de A weighty issue: : How new legislation will affect industrial minerals shippers
Whichever of these two methods are used the estimation of container weights, as has been largely accepted practice in all parts of the world to date, is now banned. "There is no SOLAS prescribed time deadline for shipper's submission of the verified gross mass (VGM) of each container, other than that this information must be provided in time for it to be used by the ship's master and the terminal representative in preparing the stowage plan for the vessel. Moreover, it is a requirement that container VGM data must be used in preparing the vessel's stowage plan," says Strainstall, developer and seller of onshore and offshore load measurement systems and products.
While it might be tempting for port and terminal operators to breathe a sigh of relief that the shipper carries ultimate responsibility for container VGM determination under the new SOLAS rules, things are not that simple. To start with, most shippers lack the resources to implement container VGM as an integral part of their current operations. While they may carry ultimate responsibility for compliance, the implementation of certified and approved container VGM processes within the shipper's own operating environment is unlikely to be a practicable proposition for all but a few.
