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Breaking Alert
6/3/2016
Dear Valued Customer:
Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS) Convention to mandate Verified Gross Mass (VGM) Effective July 1, 2016
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted
amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention to mandate the
Verified Gross Mass (VGM) for proper stowage of containers on a vessel
effective July 1, 2016. Additionally, according
to the guidance provided by the Unties States Coast Guard (USCG), the SOLAS Amendment
VGM requirement will not apply to containers shipped solely between two U.S.
ports.
Currently, the industry is in ongoing discussions with many
regulatory authorities and stakeholders to ascertain the implementation details
and policies on such requirements as well as to ensure that process and system
readiness for compliance is in order before the effective date. As a result, we
are looking further into the rate implications and will announce them once we
have more information.
The below DGX requirements are provided for your information:
LCL Shipments
DGX is the Shipper to the
Ocean Carrier and in accordance with the guidelines are responsible to report
to the Carrier the VGM. As a result, DGX will weigh each shipment to accurately
validate the weight and certify the VGM with the Carrier.
FCL Shipments
DGX does not control the
loading for FCL shipments and will rely on the Shipper to provide the VGM. The
cut-off for submitting the VGM to the Carrier will depend on the individual
Carrier and their cut-off times. As such, we will require the VGM to be
submitted to DGX within 24-hours prior to the announced VGM cut-off by the
Carrier.
The VGM must be submitted
electronically to DGX, by email to your booking agent, noting the VGM in the body
of the SLI or Bill of Lading Instructions, or by completing a VGM
Certificate. The required information for reporting the VGM is as follows:
·
DGX Booking Number
·
Container number (FCL only)
·
Unit of Measurement
·
Date
·
Name of Authorized person authorized by
Shipper to declare the VGM
·
VGM
For both LCL and FCL shipments, the above information is based
on the most recent information provided by the Industry, and because of the
current uncertainties still to be addressed by regulatory bodies, ports and
ocean carriers, we anticipate there will be ongoing
changes and updates globally.
Should you have questions, please contact your local office to
speak with a DGX Representative, or call us at 1-888-488-4888, or go to our
contact page www.dgxglobal.com.
Thank you for your business – we appreciate it!
Brad Dechter
President