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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