Sea transportby container - SOLAS Convention

February 5, 2016 - On 21st November2014, theIMO approved several important amendments to the International Conventionfor the Safety of Life at Sea-SOLAS. This was done through the Maritime Safety Committee Resolution No.MSC/380(94). Article 3 of the Resolution states that said changes will take effect from 1stJuly 2016. The amendments are contained in Annex 1 of the Resolution, divided into three paragraphs.

The secondof them, driven by the need to prevent accidents resulting from improper distribution of weightson board, acts on Chapter VI (Carriage of cargoes and oil fuels) of the SOLAS Convention, Part A (General Provisions), Regulation 2 (Cargo information). Resolution MSC/380 (94) introduces in the above Rule 2 three paragraphs concerning the transport of goods in containers. The new rules provide that the shipper verifies the gross mass of the container eitherby weighing the packed container or by weighingall that will bepacked into the container to be added to the tare mass of the empty container.

The shipper will also ensure that the mass verified as above is stated into the shipping document, which must be signed by a person duly authorized by the shipper and submitted to the Master (or his representative) and a terminal representative sufficiently in advance to be used in the preparation of the ship stowage plan. According to the new rules, in the event that the shipping document of a packed container does not provide the gross mass verified according to the procedures outlined above, the container shall not be loaded on to the ship.

The Comando Generale delle Capitanerie di Porto (Italian Maritime Authority) is currently preparing a Circular containing National Guide lines aimed at the clarification and uniform implementation of the new rules.