Ocean Network Express (ONE), the seventh largest shipping company in the world, recently announced in a statement that customers will be fined if they mistakenly declare cargo details when booking shipping spaces.

The specific charge is that from july1,2022, the Asia Europe route (westbound only) will charge a weight difference charge (WDS) of US $2000 per container.

It is understood that the penalty will be applicable to but not limited to the following circumstances: 

The details of incorrectly declared cargo are found when submitting the booking, including but not limited to the cargo weight deviation exceeding + / - 3 tons /TEU, the final bill of lading instruction details and the verified total weight (VGM).

For VGM modification and error declaration after VGM deadline, the applicable modification and error declaration fees will apply to relevant operations.

The consultant added that the implementation of such false declaration penalties will support the operational safety of everyone in the cargo handling network, including cargo on land and on board.

In addition, HMM, the shipping company, also issued a notice saying that from the perspective of ship and cargo safety, Ningbo MSA has recently focused on the verification of VGM.

In particular, Beilun MSA, which manages NBCT and BSCT, has taken more stringent measures.

According to IMO (International Maritime Organization), the error between VGM declared weight and actual weight shall not exceed 5% and the maximum error shall not exceed 1 ton. Otherwise, the goods will not be loaded.

The SOLAS of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) stipulates to VGM that the total quality of the loaded containers shall be recorded and verified before they can be loaded on the ship for export. This regulation came into effect on July 1st, 2016.

In the past, shippers often estimated the weight of export containers, or deliberately misreported information in some cases, which affected the safe transportation of sea containers and led to many accidents related to ship stability and container pile collapse.

Overall, VGM regulations have been successfully implemented worldwide, making the supply chain more secure.

But, in the past, people raised concerns about the accuracy of symmetrical heavy facilities and the number of VGM corrections in the later stage.

In addition, where there are a large number of export goods to be loaded on container routes, as in the past two years from Asia to Europe and the United States, the calculation of cargo weight will become more critical.

At the recent multimodal transport event in Birmingham,

Carriers are reluctant to discuss freight rates with shippers who wish to ship 20 foot containers of animal feed from China to the UK.

A representative of the carrier admitted that his route was "restricting heavy containers from China".

GLA hereby reminds the majority of shippers and freight forwarders to correctly declare the details of goods so as to avoid paying high extra costs.