The Port of Felixstowe, the busiest in the United Kingdom, has outlined pricing for its container weighing service, an option it expects roughly 70 percent of exporters to tap in order to meet the SOLAS container weight rule that takes effect July 1.
The port, which emphasized nothing will change operationally, will charge 20 pounds ($29.31) for the weighing service and an additional pound as an administrative fee, bringing the total cost of a Felixstowe-generated verified gross mass declaration to 21 pounds. Shippers must request this service via the port’s community system.
The port also said that it seriously underestimated the demand for port-provided weighing services, previously forecasting to weigh only 10 percent to 20 percent of exports instead of what it now expects will be closer to 70 percent. The heightened anticipation of shippers using the service suggests that U.K. shippers will be turning to ports to generate VGM data needed to meet the International Maritime Organization’s Safety of Life at Sea convention, instead of using Method 2.
Method 2 involves weighing each item and its packaging and securing material, and adding those figures together along with the tare, or empty weight of a container, to generate a VGM. The port had expected some groups of shippers, such as those moving food and beverage products, to rely on this method, but after further consultation and research the port discovered that most U.K. shippers would opt for in-port weighing.
Shippers who have generated their own VGM must use the port’s community system to submit the VGM 24 hours ahead of the declared vessel’s estimated time of arrival. If a shipper does not provide a VGM, the port will weigh the box and levy a charge of 20 pounds.
That charge will also apply to containers that are found to have discrepancies between the VGM and actual weight in excess of 5 percent, the enforcement threshold laid down by the U.K. Maritime & Coastguard Agency. Shippers will have the option of using the weight attained by the port, but they will also pay an additional 20 pounds.
All containers entering the port by rail or road will be weighed. The facility’s rail-mounted gantry cranes have all been equipped with SOLAS-approved scales to weigh boxes arriving by rail, while all of the port’s rubber-tire gantries have also been outfitted with scales to generate VGM information for containers that arrive by truck. The port said 42 percent of its exports arrive via rail and 49 percent by truck.
U.K. exporter that opt to use Method 2 must pay the MCA a 94 pound fee to be certified for the legal use of Method 2 and meet a number of regulatory requirements.
Shippers seeking to use Method 2 themselves will need to fill out a checklist and provide documented evidence in order to receive MCA approval. Shippers must have documented evidence of a process control system such as an ISO 9000 certification, the weighing method used, detailed information of weighing equipment that will be used, equipment maintenance and calibration processes, record retention, training in equipment use and procedures for dealing with faulty equipment.
Contact Dustin Braden at dustin.braden@ihs.com and follow him on Twitter: @dustin_joc.
"all of the port’s rubber-tire gantries have also been outfitted"
ReplyDeleteapprox 4 of the FSR machines count as all now do they?
That's what I heard also......that just a handful of rtg's over fsr have been fitted...approx 5%!!!
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