A PACKED container will not be allowed to be loaded on board vessels to which the SOLAS Convention applies unless the Verified Gross Mass (VGM) has been provided to the ship's master or his representative, the terminal or its representative sufficiently in advance to allow for the preparation of the ship stowage plan, warns French shipping giant CMA CGM.
CMA CGM outline own rules on loading containers with VGMs A PACKED container will not be allowed to be loaded on board vessels to which the SOLAS Convention applies unless the Verified Gross Mass (VGM) has been provided to the ship's master or his representative, the terminal or its representative sufficiently in advance to allow for the preparation of the ship stowage plan, warns French shipping giant CMA CGM. But the shipping line said it also provides for VGM data transfer together with shipping instructions, in a separate submission or through e-commerce portals in which the shipper's declared weight is accepted as a VGM. The responsibility for obtaining and documenting the VGM lies with the shipper as provided by the UN's International Maritime Organisation's Safety of Life at Sea regulation that comes into effect July 1. The VGM can be obtained using calibrated and certified equipment, the shipper (or a third party duly appointed by him) weighs the packed container at the end of the stuffing operation or weighing all packages, cargo items, pallets, dunnage and other packing and securing material and adding the tare mass of the container. CMA CGM will comply with VGM requirements by gathering and submitting VGM information to terminals. "Again, please be fully aware that according to this regulation, if the VGM is not provided by the shipper or by a person duly authorised by the shipper, the container will not be loaded onto the ship," the Marseilles shipping company warned.