Understanding Container Weight Misdeclaration

Maritime containers are perfect for cargo transportation worldwide. For transporting goods, the freight containers are fitted with CSC plate certification. The CSC plate shows that the shipping box passed through minimum standards for container weight, capacity, dimensions, and resistance to shipping forces. The weight here indicates how much a freight box can load. Despite this, there have been many cases of container weight misdeclaration in which they have exceeded their weight limit and paid penalties.

What is cargo weight misdeclaration?It means the weight allowed in the container has surpassed the maximum gross weight due to any reason ranging from lethargies, hiding illegal cargo, escaping extra charges, etc.

Effects of cargo weight misdeclaration

The container weight misdeclaration gives rise to dangerous situations given below:

Loss of life

Many boarders may lose their lives as the wrong declaration can exceed the weight limit of the box. Due to being overweight, the containers may sway to the side during intermodal transportation. And due to bad weather or an accident, the vessel can tumble and incur a loss of human life.

Loss of cargo

When freight containers exceed their weight limit due to the toppling of the ship, or the stumbling of trucks, the shipment may slide during freight transportation. This may lead to property loss during transportation.

More time in customs clearance

In the case of maritime shipping container misdeclarations, it will take time to get clearance from customs. For example: If the weight declared during the cargo loading is 278 tons and the maximum gross weight for the defined shipping box is 93 tons, then the customs will render the unloading cargo illegal, and the importer receiving the merchandise will have to answer for it. If the importer does not answer the queries, the shipper and receiver will both be liable for a penalty, and the department will hold the whole cargo.

Mismatch in loading time labor

When the cargo in the freight box is not declared rightly, the laborers hired for unloading the cargo and container from the ship may take more than the estimated time, which increases the time of vessel in the ports and can result in chaos. How to prevent the misdeclaration of cargo containers?

To overcome this situation, International Maritime Organization (IMO), a regulatory body for international shipping safety, came up with SOLAS VI, Regulation 2 on July 1, 2016. SOLAS, or Safety of Life at Sea, is a convention that IMO developed and implemented ‘to specify minimum standards for the construction, equipment, and operations of vessels compatible with their safety.’

The SOLAS detects weight misdeclarations to ensure the safety of life and property. But how did SOLAS achieve it?Every steel shipping container has a VGM or Verified Gross Mass indication before the shippers load them on the ship. The two processes for determining VGM are:

First Process:

To calculate VGM, a weighbridge, certified and well-calibrated equipment, weighs the packed unit. Then the truck, chassis, and fuel all weight should be subtracted from the truck’s total weight and the box. The resultant is the VGM.

Second Process:

Add the weight of pallets, dunnage, packing and securing material like ropes, chains, etc. Finally, add the empty container’s tare weight to the above total weight. This is your VGM. The exporting person or the shipper has to provide all documents for the VGM to load containers on the ship. The shippers must show this document before preparing the ship’s stowage plan.

How can shippers get rid of extra weightage charges?

• The shipper must not load the containers with extra cargo that exceeds the CSC plate certification limit. • They must declare the right container weight. For this, their containers must have a VGM report. • There must be a document of weight verification to avoid delay at customs clearance. With this, you know now how container weight misdeclaration can bring chaos not only to the shipper’s and receiver’s business but also to port functioning. To avoid such a situation, always declare your container’s weight and

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