The 19 ocean carrier members of the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association (OCEMA) have joined with six major East and Gulf coast ports, including the South Carolina Ports Authority, Georgia Ports Authority, North Carolina State Ports Authority, the Port of Houston Authority, The Port of Virginia, and the Massachusetts Port Authority, to develop a common streamlined “Terminal Weighing Approach” to providing verified gross mass (VGM) at port locations. OCEMA and the Ports have filed an agreement with the Federal Maritime Commission with regard to the cooperative effort.
The Terminal Weighing Approach aims to ensure fluidity at major East and Gulf Coast ports and provide shippers, carriers, and terminals with a simple means of compliance with the SOLAS VGM requirements.
Under the proposal, marine terminals would weigh a container on certified terminal scales, pursuant to the equivalency declared by the U.S. Coast Guard. This weight could then be used to fulfill the US exporter’s IMO SOLAS VGM requirement. The approach would provide flexibility for shippers at participating ports. Details of the proposal are still being vetted.
OCEMA plans to incorporate the common Terminal Weighing Approach in the OCEMA Best Practice as an additional accepted method of submitting VGM at the participating port locations.