News / EXCLUSIVE Port of Felixstowe u-turn on insistence on VGM, but will charge for weighing boxes

06/05/2016

The UK’s largest box port, Felixstowe, said yesterday it would allow containers to be delivered to its container terminals without a VGM [verified gross mass] after the new SOLAS amendment becomes law on 1 July – reversing earlier advice to the trade.

However, shippers that do not supply a VGM at least 24 hrs before the nominated vessel’s arrival will incur a charge of £77 per container to cover the cost of pulling the box out of the stack and shunting it to and from ...

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Andy Lane
May 06, 2016 at 2:42 pm
Enforcement (in terms of loading to vessels) does not really fall into the hands of MCA, but the Carriers. They are simply prohibited by international convention to load a container for which the mass has not been verified.

The clear responsibility for obtaining and communicating the VGM rests with the Shipper, as per the Bill of Lading. So unless the Terminals will charge to the Shipper, it is highly unlikely that any Carrier will accept such costs or any other punitive costs associated with failure to comply to a 2 year old regulation.

With less than 1 month to go, a lack of clarity remains and this will be to the detriment of all. This was an excellent forum (should have been held maybe 6 months earlier) to establish what is possible, what is not, and allow all to prepare for the inevitable by 1st July.

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