The TT Club, as a leading liability and equipment insurer through the supply chain has been a proponent of ensuring that containerised cargo weight declaration is accurate. This item provides feedback on the TT Talk survey carried out in July 2011. While the survey did not capture details about the respondents, such as from what part of the industry they came, separate email correspondence evidences that there was representation across the industry, from liner operators, forwarders and terminals. In summary, the results seem to suggest a 50:50 division of whether units declared as empty should be exempted from weight verification, but a substantial majority in favour of a reasonable, but modest, tolerance between declared, certified and actual weight being allowed and also strong agreement that verification of weight needs to be done at the earliest possible point in the transport chain (such as the point of packing or consolidation). In a similar way, the majority believe that it is effective for the certified weight receipt to accompany transport documentation.
Today, the World Shipping Council (WSC), the TT Club, the International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (ICHCA), and the Global Shippers' Forum (GSF) jointly released a new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to address issues arising from the new container weighing regulations due to take effect globally on 1 July 2016. The amendments to the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) Convention require packed shipping containers to have a verified gross mass (VGM) before they can be loaded on a ship for export.
The energy devoted by CINS members coming together to share good operational practice, highlight risks and increase safety is bringing benefit to the entire unit load industry.
A number of container lines have recently announced measures to discourage shippers from mis-declaring hazardous cargoes, which is a practice strongly suspected as being either the cause of, or at least contributory to, the spate of container ship fires in recent months.
With an insurable interest in excess of 50% of the world's tank container fleet, freight transport insurer TT Club has an intimate understanding of the sector. Its latest StopLoss guidance for tank container operators in managing risk in this element of the global supply chain contains valuable advice.
