US Shippers Already Complying with VGM under SOLAS, Coast Guard Commandant Says
U.S. shippers are already in compliance with amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention which will require shippers to provide the verified gross mass (VGM) of containers prior to being loaded onto carrier ships, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft said during a March 15 budget hearing of the House Transportation Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee (here). “What’s needed is a final weight,” Zukunft said. “By and large, most [cargo] manifests already have that weight built in.” Direct stakeholders, including shippers, carriers, marine terminal operators, the Federal Maritime Commission, and the Coast Guard implementing body, have over the past month discussed how to implement the VGM requirement set to take effect July 1. Rep. Dave Rouzer, R-N.C., first raised the issue during the hearing and asked Zukunft to address shipper concerns and “conflicting statements” made by the Coast Guard regarding VGM implementation.
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Zukunft reiterated that the International Maritime Organization released the VGM guidelines in 2014, and downplayed the difficulty it would take to initiate the new VGM procedures by the target date, and noted that most foreign carriers are already in compliance with the VGM requirements. He indicated that current U.S. weighing and loading practices already align with the directives. “When I was at the container terminal at Long Beach a month ago, all of the containers that come onto that yard are already weighed before they go in, so I have not seen a sky falling panacea playing out around us,” Zukunft said. “But we need to make sure that there aren’t unattended consequences while we’re continuing to reach out with the many exporters, and how their commodity ultimately gets to the container, that container shows up on a manifest before it’s loaded on board the ship.”
Zukunft also reiterated that his service already enforces SOLAS guidelines, specifically in ensuring that carriers do not load containers with no corresponding weight listed on the accompanying cargo manifest. Zukunft stopped short of saying shippers would be responsible for providing VGMs, saying: “[T]he carrier has to see a weight before they can take that container onboard.” The Coast Guard has said the specific weighing methods to provide VGM outlined by the SOLAS amendments are not mandatory, and that it will not take any action against shippers, even when missing or inaccurate VGMs might be discovered (see 1602190034).
Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Mario Cordero, who also testified (here), said the FMC “continues to stand ready” to broker stakeholder discussions in much the same way it did on Feb. 18, when it hosted at its headquarters a VGM listening session between the Coast Guard and industry stakeholders. Cordero during a Senate hearing last week said the agency will monitor implementation of the VGM requirements in case it needs to intervene in the situation. Actions potentially in violation of certain portions of the Shipping Act could prompt FMC intervention, an agency spokesman said in an interview. Under the law, intervention could be triggered by indications that a certain agreement would increase supply chain costs and unilateral imposition of an unreasonable practice, for example, the spokesman said. If it finds signs of wrongdoing, the commission could adjudicate the stakeholders, and if it finds violations, it can order a change in behavior of a guilty party and the payment of damages to the complainant, the spokesman said. FMC could also initiate a “penalty-type investigation” if it uncovers wrongdoing, he said.