NYK Line says no loading without VGM or 'risk insurance issues'

NYK Line says no loading without VGM or 'risk insurance issues' VICE president, security services and environmental affairs for NYK Line (North America), Bill Ferguson, has reiterated a stance made by carriers in recent weeks that containers will not be loaded onto vessels without Verified Gross Mass data submitted or risk insurance issues, as enforcement of the International Maritime Organisation's VGM guidelines become clearer. Speaking at the Critical Commodities Conference in New Orleans, Mr Ferguson said it was likely that carriers would establish a so-called VGM cutoff one hour before existing cargo cutoff times. The VGM cutoff time would be related to shippers (who are responsible for calculating the verified weight) at the time of booking confirmation, reported American Shipper. The issue of VGM has caused consternation in the shipping and forwarding community for two primary reasons ?a lack of clarity on implementation of the guideline, and doubt over how it will be enforced and who will enforce compliance.  Representative of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC), Donna Lemm, argued during the panel that the rule was unnecessary since export shippers already declare the weight of their cargo, and also unenforceable because the IMO guideline is not a law. "We are reporting in a compliant manner today," she said.