Tick tock for containers at dock

EXPORTERS have less than a month to get their documents in place under new safety regulations or their containers will not leave the port.

This was the stern message from the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) and the Transnet Port Terminal to port users at a roadshow held last week in Richards Bay.

Effective on 1 July, any shipping container leaving any harbour in the world must be accompanied by a shipping document signed in hard copy (as required at the Port of Richards Bay) or electronically (at ports with Navis systems) by the shipper on the bill of lading listing the verified gross mass of the container.

The mandate under the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) comes after mis-declared weights contributed to maritime casualties such as the beaching of the MSC Napoli on the souther UK coast in 2007 and the partial capsising of a feeder ship in Spain in June last year.

Weighing must now be done in one of two approved ways, named Method 1 and Method 2, on scales calibrated and certified to national standards.

‘The shipper, whether it be the principal or agent consigning goods for carriage by sea, will be held responsible for providing the verified gross mass (VGM) of the packed container,’ said SAMSA’s Kirsty Goodwin.

‘Non-conforming containers will not be able to proceed.

‘We have been asked many times if the 1 July deadline can be postponed – the answer is no.

‘This information has been going out since June last year to warn industry and the guidelines were published in 2014, but it was ignored.’

The methods
Goodwin explained Method 1 will require that upon the conclusion of packing and sealing a container, the shipper must weigh or have arranged for a third party to weigh it.

Method 2 means the shipper or third party weigh all packages and cargo items, including the mass of pallets, dunnage and other packing and securing material to be packed in the container and adding the tare weight of the container.

‘Shippers using Method 1 to verify the gross mass of a container do not need approval by SAMSA, but Method 2 will need to be approved.

‘To date, we have approved ten companies accredited to approve shippers using Method 2.

‘Several additional applications are still being processed.

‘Shippers authorised will be provided with a SAMSA number.’