VGM - essential guidance for ship operators

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has amended the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) to require, as a condition for loading a packed container onto a ship for export, that the container has a verified gross mass. The shipper is responsible for obtaining the verified gross mass of a packed container and communicating it to the ocean carrier. This requirement will become mandatory on 1 July 2016 and will apply globally. After that date, it would be a violation of SOLAS to load a packed container onto a ship if the ship operator and marine terminal operator do not have a verified container gross mass.