When the new SOLAS Container Weight Verification Requirement goes into effect on 1 July 2016, HHLA subsidiary Metrans will provide verified weighing services for customers at eleven of its hinterland terminals.
Trucks loaded with containers can drive onto a weigh station that has been certified according to local regulations. In order to obtain the verified gross mass (VGM), the weight of the chassis and the tractor unit is then subtracted from the overall weight.
Customers then receive a weight certificate that lists the gross mass of the cargo, including packing material, and the container’s tare weight, as well as the weight of the truck and chassis. According to the new requirement of the SOLAS UN Convention (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea), VGM documentation is obligatory in order for containers to be loaded onto ocean-going vessels. This new regulation is intended to ensure the safety of ships and their crews, as well as of workers at the ports. It shall also improve the loading process.
The changes of SOLAS state clearly that the responsibility for obtaining the correct and verified weight lies with the forwarder. They have to provide the VGM to the shipping company, which then passes it on to the port authorities. This VGM as outlined by SOLAS is the only type of weight declaration that the Hamburg HHLA terminals will be accepting.
The following Metrans terminals will offer verified weighing services:
Austria
Krems an der Donau (Mierka Donauhafen Krems)
Czech Republic
Praha Uhříněves
Plzen
Ostrava
Zlín
Česká Třebová
Ústí nad Labem
Germany
Schwarzheide
Adelebsen (Göttingen)
Slovakia
Dunajská Streda
Košice
www.hhla.de
