01/01/0001
Preparing for VGM
In 2014 the International Maritime organization (IMO), the agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating international seaborne trade, has approved amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) which as of July 2016 will require verification and documentation of loaded containers before they can be loaded onto vessels. This can be accomplished by either weighing the loaded container with calibrated and certified equipment, or weighing the cargo prior to loading and adding it to the tare weight of the empty container. The purpose of the Verified Gross Mass (VGM) regulations is to assure safety of the vessel, as well as dockworkers and other cargo handlers by preventing overweight or otherwise misrepresented containers from jeopardizing shipments or container movements.
In anticipation of the July 1st starting date of the new global VGM requirement, 35 APM Terminals facilities will offer on-site weighing services. All operational procedures and processes are being reviewed to ensure VGM Process Compliance throughout the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network. Inaccurate or falsified weights increase the risk of accident when loading vessels, or handling containers within the terminal yard. The APM Terminals portfolio handled an equity-weighted 36 million TEUs in 2015.
There are three different service levels of compliance with SOLAS across APM Terminals’ portfolio of 72 operating terminals, which depend upon local circumstances and regulations, including VGM data management, VGM verification, and VGM generation.
The first level is essentially “business as usual”, as the terminals will ensure that the shipping lines are responsible for the VGM compliance for their shippers. This level includes upgrading the terminals’ systems to receive VGM messages in order to facilitate the exchange of VGM information, preferably in the form of electronic data interchange (EDI) messages.
The VGM verification level, which includes level1one services, also involves reweighing all export containers at the gates. The third level, adopted by the majority of APM Terminals’ facilities, includes the possibility of providing the VGM of export containers arriving at the terminals without it.
"The new regulation is very important for APM Terminals because it improves safety; it improves safety for our customers, for the shipping lines, as well as for our workforce in terminal operations” stated APM Terminals CEO Kim Fejfer.
Over 140 million containers are moved around the globe annually by ship, carrying 90% of the world’s manufactured goods, and representing a projected total of approximately 720 million TEUs to be moved onto and off of vessels at the world’s ports in 2016.
In anticipation of the July 1st starting date of the new global VGM requirement, 35 APM Terminals facilities will offer on-site weighing services. All operational procedures and processes are being reviewed to ensure VGM Process Compliance throughout the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network. Inaccurate or falsified weights increase the risk of accident when loading vessels, or handling containers within the terminal yard. The APM Terminals portfolio handled an equity-weighted 36 million TEUs in 2015.
There are three different service levels of compliance with SOLAS across APM Terminals’ portfolio of 72 operating terminals, which depend upon local circumstances and regulations, including VGM data management, VGM verification, and VGM generation.
The first level is essentially “business as usual”, as the terminals will ensure that the shipping lines are responsible for the VGM compliance for their shippers. This level includes upgrading the terminals’ systems to receive VGM messages in order to facilitate the exchange of VGM information, preferably in the form of electronic data interchange (EDI) messages.
The VGM verification level, which includes level1one services, also involves reweighing all export containers at the gates. The third level, adopted by the majority of APM Terminals’ facilities, includes the possibility of providing the VGM of export containers arriving at the terminals without it.
"The new regulation is very important for APM Terminals because it improves safety; it improves safety for our customers, for the shipping lines, as well as for our workforce in terminal operations” stated APM Terminals CEO Kim Fejfer.
Over 140 million containers are moved around the globe annually by ship, carrying 90% of the world’s manufactured goods, and representing a projected total of approximately 720 million TEUs to be moved onto and off of vessels at the world’s ports in 2016.