PROBLEMS were identified at a London seminar on how best to comply with what most expect will become the UN's International Maritime organisation rules on weighing containers before loading.

"The IMO is going to nail this one at some point," John Leach, head of cargo management at Maersk Line Ship Management told delegates at the seminar held by the International Cargo Handling Coordination Association (ICHCA).

 "We have five years in hand and we have more than one method and place to verify the container weights - there probably has to be a flexible approach," said Mr Leach, in a report published in the British International Freight Association newsletter.

 While mis-declared container weights have contributed to the MSC Napoli marine disaster among others, there was enough disagreement among the delegates at the IMO's sub-committee for Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and Containers in September to prevent the body from taking a step forward.

 Under shipping rules, shippers are responsible for the weight of their containers. But under EU trucking rules, the container weight is the responsibility of the trucker, who must keep the weight below a legal maximum - 44 tonnes over six axles.

 "Mandatory weighing won't deal with bad packing, and it won't reveal if the weight has changed during transportation through water ingress or condensation," warned Global Shippers Forum secretary general Chris Welsh.

 Said British Road Haulage Association director Peter Cullum: "In many cases drivers are not authorised to be in shippers' yards, so they have no way of knowing whether the container is overweight. Another difficulty is if a shipper gives the haulier a part-load, and the haulier takes another part-load from elsewhere, whose responsibility is it then?"

 Said Mr Welsh: "The reality is that most shippers don't have weighing facilities. So it has to be done at a weighbridge or elsewhere. The practical place to do it is at the terminal."

 Not so, said Hutchison Ports UK health and safety chief David Wilson: "We have 4,500 trucks coming through Felixstowe's gates every day, and a weighbridge isn't an option in this area."

 While Mr Wilson conceded weighing could be done by cranes in the terminal stacks, it would be too late when an overweight box is discovered between quayside and vessel cell.

 "Greater efforts need to be put on shippers to meet the requirements. Ports could act as agents for shipping lines in this respect, but we could not accept any liability," he said.

(Source:world maritime news)