THE Company of Master Mariners of India has come out in favour of container weight-ins, who like the carriers and shipmanagers who employ them, do to not face the compliance costs imposed by the unelected UN agency on shippers.
While there is much anecdotal material blaming overweight or badly stowed heavy containers causing shipboard accidents, little evidence can be produced.
This latest declaration comes as 3,000 master mariners prepares a whitepaper to the shipping ministry, which indicates much scarifying advocacy but few facts.
Rather, the master mariners' report focuses on key amendments to SOLAS (The UN convention for the Safety of Life at Sea) which will make container weight verification binding from July 1.
CMMI chairman Captain Philip Mathews said the measures are urgently needed to ensure proper safety of cargo, seafarers and ships sailing around the globe.
"We applaud the International Maritime Organisation's decision to approve cargo weight amendments to SOLAS," he said. "Essentially, the new measures mean every shipper, including the consigner, exporter or seller of the cargo, will have to verify gross weight of each cargo-container before loading it onto the ship.
"It is estimated that about one third of over 130 million cargo containers shipped everyday across the globe have inaccurately declared weights," he said. "It's a grave safety concern for the ship, and also a huge issue for the environment."
While these views are widely held by bureaucrats looking for new areas to police with their burgeoning fine-producing inspectors, it has been consistently opposed by shippers in the European Shippers Council and the Asia Shippers Council.
Only the Global Shipper's Forum, whose smaller membership does not include shippers of export containers, enthusiastically backs the IMO rule.
WORLD SHIPPING
17 December 2015 - 11:20
Sea captains applaud UN mandated box weigh-ins at shippers' expense
THE Company of Master Mariners of India has come out in favour of container weight-ins, who like the carriers and shipmanagers who employ them, do to not face the compliance costs imposed by the unelected UN agency on shippers.
WORLD SHIPPING
17 December 2015 - 11:20
Sea captains applaud UN mandated box weigh-ins at shippers' expense
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