Weighing containers:conference proceedings show how to do it

News Release U.K. P&I Club Thomas Miller(Americas)Inc. January 14, 2011

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The proceedings of a conference –
“Weighing containers: Is it really that difficult?” -  that
took place in London in June
2010 have now been published. Organised by Dunelm Public Relations and sponsored
by the UK P&I Club, the conference included
presentations by the UK’s Marine
Accident Investigation Branch, container handling specialists, a terminal
operator, insurers and a surveyor.
 
Virtually everything that was said at the conference
appears in the proceedings including lively contributions from the
audience.
 
According to Dunelm’s Managing Director,
David Cheslin, publication of the proceedings at this
time is highly appropriate:
 
“On 1 December, the World Shipping Council
and the International Chamber of Shipping announced that they were urging the
International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to establish
an international legal requirement that all loaded containers be weighed at the
marine port facility before they are stowed aboard a vessel for export. This has
major ramifications for shipowners and terminals alike as the IMO is unlikely to ignore these two powerful bodies.
 
“Implementation of any legislation on this
subject is clearly some years away but terminal operators would do well not to
leave everything until the last minute. As the WSC/ICS announcement makes clear, this information should be made
available to ship planners and will mean modifying the data links between the
machine weighing the containers and the terminal’s Terminal Operating System
(TOS).”
 
The UK P&I Club’s Communications Director, Nick Whitear,
added:
 
“Any new legislation will require carriers to change
their systems so that they can accept this new data and be ready to act when
inaccurate weights are detected. Also, if they are not doing so already,
shipowners need to start educating their customers about the importance of
making accurate weight declarations so as to avoid any problems in the
ports.”
 

The organisers of the conference have
expressed a belief that because this is recognised as an important safety issue,
some carriers may be prepared to pre-empt any IMO legislation by voluntarily introducing weighing at certain
terminals. The general consensus at the conference was that those carriers who
operate their own terminals would be best placed to do this, followed closely by
those terminal operators with particularly strong links to specific
carriers.
 
The conference in June kicked off with a
session dedicated to equipment that is designed to weigh containers. The leading
TOS service provider was also on hand to
discuss how it could quite easily accommodate any requirement to transfer weight
data to its TOS systems.
 
Other speakers focused on the safety issues, explaining
why they believed all containers should be weighed. The MAIB also pointed out
that there was a strong case for weighing unaccompanied trailers before they are
loaded on freight ro-ro vessels. This is already mandatory on RoPax vessels
carrying 12 or more passengers.
 
One point stressed by several delegates
was that it is important to weigh ALL containers,
including empties. Apparently there have been a number of cases where ‘empty’
containers have been found to be loaded with waste products and to put these on
board a vessel in a stack containing genuine empties could easily initiate a
stack collapse. 
 
Security experts also point out that an
explosive device placed in an empty container would stand a better chance of
being detected if empties had to be weighed.  So far, the
WSC and ICS have only shown concern regarding
overweight containers. They should expect representations from various quarters
demanding that all containers should be weighed.  The issue is
misdeclared container weights, not overweight containers.
 
Copies of the “Weighing containers: Is it really that
difficult?” proceedings can be obtained from Dunelm Public Relations at a cost
of £100 or €125 and include downloadable access to the full set of PowerPoint
presentations. To order, please e-mail <A
href="redir.aspx?C=40bd6f6b95fd4f3ba15f7620bbb0649c&URL=mailto%3ajudycheslin%40dunelmpr.co.uk">judycheslin@dunelmpr.co.uk</A>.
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