June 29 London conference to focus on weighing containers

A ONE-day conference at the Hilton London Canary Wharf Hotel on June 29 will be held to focus on "Weighing Containers: Is it Really that Difficult?"

"Shippers cannot be relied upon to make accurate weight declarations when booking cargo. Yet carriers still accept declared weights and rarely have them verified," said a statement from the organisers, Dunelm Public Relations, a London maritime PR firm.

The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) and International Chamber of Shipping and the World Shipping Council have declared that overloading containers cannot be condoned and that the stuffing party is responsible for providing correct weights, say organisers, who add that terminal operators should also verify weights before loading.

There have been numbers of heavy-weight container arriving late for loading which are then put on top of departing ships with false weight declarations. They make ships top heavy and prone to capsize at sea.

"Despite this, nothing seems to be happening to ensure that weighing takes place and the container shipping industry, including all those who sail on deepsea and shortsea/feeder vessels, to rely on shippers being accurate and honest," said a statement from the organisers.

"Although we are only now starting to market this event, delegates representing deepsea and shortsea carriers, P&I clubs, classification societies and terminal operators have already registered," said Dunelm managing director David Cheslin.

Mr Cheslin said he was unable to find a speaker to explain why the carriers are "not taking active steps to enforce their own 'best practice' guidelines. Similarly, no shipper or shipper organisation has come forward with an offer to speak on this subject," he said.

(Source: www.schednet.com)