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Port of Charleston to weigh boxes for US$25 apiece to provide VGM
THE South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) has announced that it will charge US$25 to provide container weight verification, by using on-terminal scales, at the port of Charleston to enable shippers to comply with the new international maritime regulations that go into effect on July 1.
This comes after the US Coast Guard last week announced its approval for US ports to verify the weight of containers, saying that existing US laws and regulations are equivalent to the upcoming regulation under the Safety of Life at Sea convention (SOLAS), reported American Shipper.
The port of Charleston has for years weighed every export container received at its terminals on scales to meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations requiring terminals to receive the gross weight of the container, or use its own scales to obtain the weight, before it is hoisted by any cargo handling equipment.
"We have employed a best practice in safely loading ships in our port for the last 20 years due to our weighing of all export containers," said SCPA president Jim Newsome.
The Georgia Ports Authority earlier said it would transmit verified gross mass (VGM) data of a laden container to shippers and stevedores in real-time, free of charge, from the scales it already uses at inbound gates to weigh all export loads. And Ports America, the private operator of the port of Baltimore's Seagirt Terminal, said it would offer container weighing services for an undisclosed fee.
Many terminals will refuse to accept containers through their gates without weight documentation because they don't want the hassle of storing them while that data is tracked down.
This comes after the US Coast Guard last week announced its approval for US ports to verify the weight of containers, saying that existing US laws and regulations are equivalent to the upcoming regulation under the Safety of Life at Sea convention (SOLAS), reported American Shipper.
The port of Charleston has for years weighed every export container received at its terminals on scales to meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations requiring terminals to receive the gross weight of the container, or use its own scales to obtain the weight, before it is hoisted by any cargo handling equipment.
"We have employed a best practice in safely loading ships in our port for the last 20 years due to our weighing of all export containers," said SCPA president Jim Newsome.
The Georgia Ports Authority earlier said it would transmit verified gross mass (VGM) data of a laden container to shippers and stevedores in real-time, free of charge, from the scales it already uses at inbound gates to weigh all export loads. And Ports America, the private operator of the port of Baltimore's Seagirt Terminal, said it would offer container weighing services for an undisclosed fee.
Many terminals will refuse to accept containers through their gates without weight documentation because they don't want the hassle of storing them while that data is tracked down.
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