New Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulation

Background

In November 2014, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted mandatory amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Chapter VI, Part A, Regulation 2 Cargo information regarding a mandatory container gross weight verification.

The SOLAS amendments become effective on 1 July 2016 for all packed containers received for transportation.

The Shipper of a packed container is under obligation to verify and provide the container’s verified gross weight (VGM) to the sea carrier, prior to containers being loaded onto a ship. Containers without VGM will not be loaded.

Empty containers are not subject to VGM confirmation however container owner shall declare the correct tare weight. According to the Convention, the Shipper is entitled to appoint third party to obtain the verified gross mass for their containers.

Therefore, please use the VGM declaration forms available in the Download section to declare containers according to the SOLAS regulation.