SOLAS Regulations - Verified Gross Mass (VGM)
Mandatory Weight Verification for all Export Containers
valid globally, effective July 1, 2016 - UPDATE
CGM Attila
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change without prior notice. The most current and controlling version of the Terms is published in the respective Country section at
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Terms in effect at that time will apply to any such services. Your attention is directed to those clauses of the Terms which exclude or limit the liability
of Panalpina and other parties, and to those which require you to indemnify Panalpina in certain circumstances.
Dear valued Customer,
With only a little over a month left for the implementation of the amended SOLAS regulations, PANALPINA
would like to provide you with another update on the latest developments.
1. With its most recent circular dated 19 May 2016, the IMO has clarified that the Verified Gross Mass
(VGM) is required to be declared by the Shipper for all packed containers with a loading date on or after
01 July 2016 from the origin port of loading. Hence, containers that will be loaded on a ship prior
01 July but will be transshipped on or after that date for carriage to the final port of discharge will be
permitted to do so without the VGM being specified.
2. At the recent Multimodal 2016 conference in Birmingham, officials from the World Shipping Council and
the UK Maritime Coastguard Agency stressed that tolerances set by the national competent authorities
are for the guidance of the enforcers only. Shipper must not estimate the weight but provide a VGM
(Verified Gross Mass) that is determined by one of the two permissible SOLAS methods (please refer
to our Customer Notice No. 2).
3. To facilitate safe and convenient submission of the VGM data, PANALPINA will shortly be launching a
web-based VGM Portal. The VGM Portal allows you to
a. timely report the VGM data of your FCL bookings,
b. display VGM cut-off times and special terminal and/or pick-up directives,
c. control submission status,
d. receive alert notifications in case of missing or incomplete VGM data close to the cut-off time,
e. pass on a shipment specific link to an external party, e.g. weighing station, which you have
entrusted to weigh the container on your behalf, and
f. set up and manage user profiles within your organization.