RF Transport Ministry has clarified the procedure for implementation of SOLAS Container Weight Verification Requirement which becomes effective on July 1, 2016. According to IAA PortNews correspondent, explanations were given by the Ministry representatives to carriers and operators of terminals on March 31, 2016 at the round-table meeting arranged in Saint-Petersburg by the Union of Corporate Lawyers under the initiative of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).
According to the SOLAS requirement, before a packed container can be loaded onto a ship, its weight must be determined through weighing.
The only organization in Russia authorized to certify organizations carrying out container weight verification is Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS).
As Deputy Transport Minister Victor Olersky, RS and the Ministry of Transport will sign a required agreement in the nearest future. Such a certification will be carried out once in 5 years with an interim revision in 30 months.
RS Director General Konstantin Palnikov says the Register has sufficient number of inspectors in different regions of Russia which will let carry out many certifications by July 1, 2016.
Victor Olersky called on RS not to overrate the certification: “If there is a possibility to prevent additional burden on business it should be done”. Konstantin Palnikov said the RS rates are available at the website of the Register. “It is one of the basic processes of certification, - he said. – Standard rate is RUB 1,650 per hour. Certification should not take more than 1 workday.
The procedure guidelines will be issued by RF Transport Ministry by the end of April 2016.