Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) - Verified Gross Mass (VGM)

About SOLAS - Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention

The SOLAS Convention in its successive forms is generally regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships. The first version was adopted in 1914, in response to the Titanic disaster, the second in 1929, the third in 1948, and the fourth in 1960.

The 1974 version includes the tacit acceptance procedure - which provides that an amendment shall enter into force on a specified date unless, before that date, objections to the amendment are received from an agreed number of Parties.

As a result the 1974 Convention has been updated and amended on numerous occasions. The Convention in force today is sometimes referred to as SOLAS, 1974, as amended.

Overweight containers can lead to accidents and huge costs

Consequences of mis-declaring the gross mass of a packed container 

The consequences of misdeclaring the gross mass of a packed container can be far-reaching.  Should a discrepancy between the declared gross mass and the actual gross mass of a packed container go unnoticed, it could have an adverse impact on the safety of the ship, seafarers and shore-side workers, by leading to incorrect vessel stowage decisions and potentially collapsed container stacks or loss of containers overboard.With effect from 1 July 2016, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will implement a new regulation under the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) that requires shippers to provide a Verified Gross Mass (VGM) for every packed containers as a condition for vessel loading.

SOLAS is to ensure the safety of a container carrying ship at sea. Under SOLAS, the gross mass of a container must be weighed, verified and correctly declared by the shipper or their appointed consolidator. This will guide ship stowage decisions to ensure vessel stability and safety. This will also ensure that safety of personnel and equipment that will load, unload or transport the containers.

Overweight containers can lead to fatal accidents

How will SOLAS affect the end customer - the shipper & consignee ?

SOLAS requires the shipper of a packed container to provide and verify the container's gross weight to the ocean carrier and port terminal representative in advance of loading. The carrier can refuse to load the container onto the vessel if the shipper fails to submit the Verified Gross Mass (VGM) information in full compliance of the format and within the cut-off time requirement of the carrier.

The aforementioned SOLAS amendments introduce two main new requirements:

1 The shipper is responsible for providing the verified weight by stating it in the shipping document and submitting it to the master or his representative and to the terminal representative sufficiently in advance to be used in the preparation of the ship stowage plan; and

2 The verified gross mass is a condition for loading a packed container onto a ship.

Verification of Gross Mass is compulsory as per SOLAS

The verification of the gross mass - VGM can be achieved by either of two methods:

1 weighing the packed container; or

2 weighing all packages and cargo items, including the mass of pallets, dunnage and other securing material to be packed in the container and adding the tare mass of the container to the sum of the single masses, using a certified method approved by the competent authority of the State in which packing of the container was completed.


5 Things you need to know about SOLAS - Weight Verification Changes:

5 Things you need to know about SOLAS - Weight Verification Changes

SOLAS FAQs

What will change as of the July 1, 2016 (SOLAS VGM Enforcement Date)? 
Shipper named on the Bill of Lading is obligated to provide accurate and verified cargo weight to the carrier prior to vessel loading. This applies to all packed containers which are to be loaded onto a vessel under SOLAS regime in international maritime traffic.

More FAQs can be downloaded from any of the following links:

http://www.worldshipping.org/industry-issues/safety/faqs
http://www.ttclub.com/loss-prevention/publications/container-weighing/

http://ichca.com/container-weighing