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EES Shipping Pty Ltd.

The trade association representing 19 ocean carriers and the Federal Maritime Commission have announced their support for using marine terminal scales to determine the verified gross mass of containers when an international shipping rule goes into effect July 1.

Although shippers still are ultimately responsible for certifying the precise weight of each container and its contents, the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association said its members would help shippers by allowing terminals to weigh and certify containers and their contents before they are loaded onto ships at U.S. ports.

The International Maritime Organization’s Safety of Life at Sea amendment, or SOLAS, requires that shippers provide the precise verified gross mass — not just weight estimates — for every container loaded onto an ocean vessel.

The amendments are intended to mitigate the risk of ships tipping over in bad weather or rough seas due to unbalanced loads.

OCEMA expressed its support for terminal weighing of containers only a day after FMC Chairman Mario Cordero said in a June 16 statement, “The time has come for ocean carriers to embrace the obvious solution to achieving compliance that marine terminal operators can offer.

“Using the weight taken at the terminal gate for the purposes of satisfying the need for a verified weight of a container is a simple and efficient solution for ensuring the continued smooth flow of export cargo.”

Truckers have been concerned that they could be stuck holding containers that were not properly weighed and certified, and some shippers have said they don’t have their own scales and would be forced to pay to outsource the weighing of containers.

Curtis Whalen, executive director of American Trucking Associations’ Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference, said he welcomed the option to allow shippers to weigh containers at some terminals.

“The announcement was another piece of the puzzle put in place to provide greater clarity as to what’s going to happen on the first of July,” Whalen said. “It’s a positive step, but I think we’re all going to be worried about the process until we see how it works.”

OCEMA said the use of on- terminal scales is expected to alleviate much of the confusion surrounding VGM and simplify the process for most stakeholders. But operational constraints still could require different processes for determining and transmitting VGM, OCEMA said.

“In cases where the terminal weighing approach is not feasible, OCEMA will continue to evaluate ways to achieve VGM compliance,” the group’s June 17 statement said.

John Young, director of freight and surface transportation policy for the American Association of Port Authorities, said that when the SOLAS amendments go into effect July 1, every port is going to be different in how it deals with the demands of the new requirement.

Terminal operators at some ports are declining to weigh containers and claiming they will not allow containers to pass through their gates without certified VGM, while others will assist in the weighing process.

“It’s just been crazy,” Young said. “You try to lay a foundation, and every day there’s something new.”

Ronald Marotta, vice president at Yusen Logistics, a division of steamship line NYK Group, agreed with Young.

“There is not a consistency across agencies and providers” in their preparedness for SOLAS, he said. “We’re good, but others are not 100%. It’s a complex issue. We’re doing it at the shipper level because it would be difficult to have ports do all of the work.”

John Crowley, executive director of the National Association of Waterfront Employees, said in a statement that ocean carriers appear to be “backing away” from placing the primary responsibility and liability for the VGM on shippers, shifting it to terminal operators.

“Just a year ago, many were critical of marine terminal operators for the congestion that occurred in a number of ports,” Crowley said. “Now that they seem content to add responsibilities to the work of the port operator, they must not be concerned over congestion any longer.”

Associate News Editor Jonathan S. Reiskin contributed to this story.