Flags of Convenience.docx

Flags of Convenience.docx

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FlagsofConvenience

FlagsofConvenience:

MakingCargoSafetyInconvenient

September28,2012　　BYMAREX

SOLASamendmentregardingtheaccurateweighingofcontainersisshelved.

Op-edbyRichardMadden

Twocountriesprovidingflagsofconvenience（FOC）tomerchantvessels,PanamaandCyprus,threwuproadblockstothesafecarriageofcontainerizedcargolastweek. Withover80%ofworldcargobeingmovedoncontainershipsandthoseshipsgettingeverlarger,anymeasurethatcanmaketheseshipmentssafermustbeconsidered. Sadly,thesecountriesfindthatsomeproposedmeasuresareinconvenient.

TheInternationalMaritimeOrganization’s（IMO）Sub-CommitteeonDangerousGoods,SolidCargoesandContainerswrappedupitsmostrecentmeetingon21September2012. Amongtheitemsontheagendaweremeasurestopreventthelossofcontainersatsea. TwoproposalsweresubmittedtotheSub-Committeerequiringaccuratecontainerweights–onefromacoalitionoftheWorldShippingCouncil（WSC）andnumerousindustryadvocacygroupsandcountries,andtheotherfromGermany.

TheWSCpublishedasynopsisofmaritimecasualtiesinvolvingoverweightcontainerson12December2011.Thepaperindicatesthatseriousmaritimecasualties,includingthecapsizingofonevesselandstructuralfailureofanother,aswellassignificantcargoandvesseldamage,canbedirectlyattributedtomisdeclaredcontainerweights. Insomeinstances,theactualweightofcontainerswasupto350%higherthandeclared.

ThetwoproposalsdifferedinthattheWSCproposalrequiredtheactualweighingofthestuffedcontainerwhereastheGermanproposalwouldalsoallowthecalculationofthecontainerweightbytheshipperbasedonthetareweightofthecontainerandtheweightofthecontents. Whileneitherproposalreceivedoverwhelmingsupport,memberstatedelegationsagreedthatamendmentstoSOLASwererequiredtoincreasetheresponsibilityoftheshipperinregardtothedeclarationofcontainerweights.

Dueto“technicalobjections”bythedelegationsfromPanama,CyprusandGreece,furtherdiscussiononthismatterhasbeenpushedtoacorrespondencegroupwithanotherreportdueinSeptember2013. Atthispoint,theearliestaSOLASamendmentrequiringtheaccurateweighingordeclarationofweightofacontainermightcomeintoeffectis2017. AWSCrepresentative,possiblyindicatingwhatwasdiscussedbehindthescenes,stated,“Alternatively,thoseresistingchangemaycontinuetosucceedindelayinganeffectiveregulatoryresponsebytheIMOtothisproblem.”

Meanwhile,thoseloadingcontainershipsorworkingincontaineryardsareleftwiththequestion,“Whatdoesthatcontainerreallyweigh?

” Fornow,wemustaccepttheshipper’sdeclarationforwhatitis–possiblyuseless. Themonitoringofoutsideindicatorssuchasstrainonlashingorcargogearorpositionoftheloadlinemaybetheonlytrueindicationofwhatthatcontainerreallyweighs.

CaptainRichardMaddenisamaritimeconsultantandSUNYMaritimegraduatewithover20yearsofindustryexperience. HeholdsaUSCGUnlimitedMaster’slicenseandhassailedongovernmentvessels,offshoretowingvessels,tankers,containerships,coastaltowingandgeneralcargovessels. Heisanactivelysailingmerchantmarinerwithafocusonsafeoperations. maddenmaritime@

Unioncallsforterminalstoverifycontainerweights

ByAlexLennane

10.23.2012·PostedinLoadstarposts,Sea,SupplychainAddtofavorites

©TheLoadstar

Inthecontinuingdebateoncontainerweights,theITFhasrespondedtonewsfromLloydsRegisterthatnewstackingmethodologycouldseeupto10%morecargoonsomelargerships,sayingthatuntilcontainerweightsarecorrectlymeasureditisimpossibletoensuresafety.

“Evenifashipcanadd10%weightcapacityonboard,itismeaninglessifthereisstillasizablepercentageofthecontainerweightsmisdeclared.Shipsof4,000teutothelatest16,000teuallhavethesameproblemofstabilityifcontainersarenotsituatedatthecorrectplaceontheshipduetoamisdeclaration,”explainedAlbetLeMonnier,formervicepresidentoftheILWUinCanadaandITFportsafetyrepresentativeattheILOandIMO.

MrLeMonnieralsohitbackatFiata’spositiononcontainerweighing–thatitis“lessinclinedtoacceptsuchasissuetobeonthelegislativeagenda”–sayingitwas“absurd”.

“Toleavethisonavoluntarybasisisabsurd.That’sthestatusquoasitis.UnderSolas[SafetyofLifeatSea],theshipperisonlyrequiredtodeclaretheweightofthecontainer,andlookattheproblemofmisdeclarationwe’reexperiencing.Asrule,selfregulationhasaverypoorrecord.”

Atarecentseminaronthetopic,coveredbyTheLoadstar,itbecameclearthateachpartyinthesupplychainfelttheresponsibilityforweighingcontainersshouldbeshared–orpassedonaltogether.Hauliersneededtheshippertocorrectlyidentifytheweight,whileterminaloperatorspointedoutthatthesheernumberofcontainersarrivingataterminalmadeitextremelydifficulttoweightthemthere.

ButMrLeMonniertoldTheLoadstarthattheITFbelievescontainerterminalsarethebestplace.

“TheITF’ssolutiontotheproblemisforthecontainertobeweighedindependentlyfromtheagentthatmadetheweightdeclaration,whichcouldbetheshipper,theconsignorortheconsolidator.Roadsideweighbridgescanbereliableifthey’reontheroute,areopenandthehaulierisnothaulingtwo20ftcontainers.Themostpracticalplaceisattheportterminalfacility,becauseithastheequipment,weighbridgeandliftingequipmentscales,andisatthecentreofthemulti-modalinterface.”

Headdedthatbecausethereisalreadyanexistingcommercialrelationshipbetweentheterminalandtheshippingline,itwouldbesimpleforthelinestopaytheterminal.“Inturn,thecarrierwillchargetheshipperfortheverification.Ultimatelythecostwillbeintheconsumerprice,buthardlynoticeable.”

MrLeMonnierderidedarecentidea,outofGermany,thatthepackerweighsthepackagesbeforeloading.“ITFandmanyothersfeltthatthisdidn’treallyconstituteavalidverificationprocess,andwasessentiallystatusquo.”

Healsorejectedtheideaofimplementinganyregulationtoosoon.“Whatisimportantistogetitright.Containerweightshavegoneonmisdeclaredforyears.Towaitoneortwomoreyearswon’tmakeadifferenceiftheremedyadoptedisn’teffective.”

ACorrespondenceGrouphasbeenformedtoexaminetheissueandworkoutthecontainerweightsamendmenttoSolasrejection.ItisduetoreportbacktotheIMObyJune2013,fordeliberationinSeptember.

Meanwhile,LloydsRegisterhasannounceda“breakthrough”incontainershipcapacity.Newresearchandmethodologyhasshownthatstackingweightsdifferentlywouldallowshipstocarrymorecargo.Thegroupclaimsthatinan18,000teushipweightscouldrisebyasmuchas10%,newswelcomedbytheshippinglines.

“Theseresultsindicateclearlythatwewillbeabletoallowmuchhighercargoweightsandenablemoreoperationalflexibility–andtodothisinsafety,”saidTomBoardley,marinedirector.“Thepotentialincargoincreaseisconsiderable.

“Clearlytherehasbeenscepticismovermanyshipefficiencyclaimsandmuchoftheproblemcomesdowntolackofcommonapproachestomeasurement,soyouendupcomparingappleswithoranges.Buttheworkthatwehavebeendoinginexaminingtheforcesinvolvedincontainerstacksisthrowingupsomereallyinterestingandinnovativeresults.”

However,headded:

“Insomelocations,insomedesigns,youmayhavetoreducecontainerweights.Buthavingsatisfiedourselvestherisksaremanagedtherearebigbenefitsinoverallcarryingcapacity.”

Dutchu-turnthrowsmandatorycontainerweighingintodoubt

ByGavinvanMarle

03.27.2013·PostedinLand,Loadstarposts,SeaAddtofavorites

TheDutchgovernmentwillhavetoreverseitssupportforthemandatoryweighingofcontainerspriortobeingloadedonvesselsaftermembersofitsTweedeKamerderStaten-Generaal（HouseofRepresentatives）votedoverwhelminglytorejectthepolicy.

AmotionwasputforwardtoDutchMPsinmid-Marchbythecountry’sliberalpartyandco-signedbyitslabourpartywhichproposed,firstlythatDutchministerfortheinfrastructureandenvironmentMelanieSchultzvanHaegenstoppursuingtheintroductionofmandatorycontainerweighingand,secondly,thatitshouldlooktogether“withtheotherstakeholdersinthesupplychainforalternativestothelossofcontainersatsea,”accordingtotheEuropeanShippers’Council’smemberofitsmaritimetransportcouncil,MarcoWiesehahn.

TheresultisthattheDutchgovernmentisnowobligedtoopposethemandatoryweighingofcontainers,aTweedeKamerderStaten-GeneraalspokesmanconfirmedtoTheLoadstar.

“Whatwewouldliketointroduceisadeadlinebywhichshippershavetosubmitthecorrectweightofthecontainer,butalsothatthecarrierisusingthedatawhichismostup-to-date,”MrWiesehahn,oneofthemostvocalcriticsofmandatoryweighing,toldTheLoadstar.

MrWiesehahnarguedthatratherthanlookingatthelossofcontainersatsea,theissueappearedtohavebecomesolelyfocusedonthecommonrule-of-thumblawthat20%ofallcontainershavemisdeclaredweights.

HesaidtheESC’sresearchhadfoundthatshippershavenotbeendeliberatelymisdeclaringtheweightofcontainers“sotheycanmovemorecargoinfewerboxesandsosavemoney”.

“Thereisnomotivationforshipperstodothat–theyhavetofilloutthecorrectweightsforcustoms,otherwisetherewillbefinancialfinesandotherpenalties.Butcarriersseemtoassumethatthereisalargeproportionofshipperswhopurposelygivethewrongweights.”

Heclaimedi