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18|The International Maritime Organization (IMO) started working on the development of measures to prevent loss of containers in 2011. As misdeclared container mass was a contributing factor to marine casualties and incidents, IMO looked at the possible establishment of a requirement that packed containers be weighed to obtain their actual gross mass prior to vessel loading.The consequences of misdeclaring the gross mass of a packed container can be detrimental. If a discrepancy between the declared gross mass and actual gross mass of a packed container goes unnoticed, itcould have an adverse impact on the safety of the ship, seafarers and shore-side workers, by leading to incorrect vessel stowage decisions and potentially collapsed container stacks or loss of containers overboard.On 21 November 2014, at its 94th session, the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) adopted amendments to SOLAS regulation VI/2 to require the mandatory verification of the gross mass of packed containers. The two main requirements of the SOLAS amendments are:1. The shipper is responsible for providing the verified weight by stating it in theshipping document and submitting itto the master or his representative and to the terminal representative sufficiently in advance to be used in the preparation of the ship stowage plan; and2. The verified gross mass is a condition for loading a packed container onto a ship. The amendments to SOLAS regulationVI/2 were accepted on 1 January 2016 and entered into force on 1 July 2016.The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) prepared the following list of Frequently Asked Questions to facilitate the implementation of SOLAS Regulation VI/2.FEATURESImplementation of SOLAS Regulations VI/2 on Verified Gross Mass of ContainersFAQs from Maritime and Port Authority of SIngapore1. Who are the stakeholders affected by SOLAS Regulation VI/2?Shippers, terminal operators, vessel masters and their representatives2. Who qualifies as a ‘shipper’ for the purpose of compliance with SOLAS Regulation VI/2?A shipper for the purpose of compliance with SOLAS Regulation VI/2 includes:a. Alegalentityorpersonwhoisnamedastheshipperonabilloflading,seawaybillorequivalentmultimodaltransportdocument (e.g. a “through” bill of lading);b. Alegalentityorpersonwho,orinwhosenameoronwhosebehalf,acontractofcarriagehasbeenconcludedwithashipping company;c. Theownerorexporterofthecargo;andd. Hauliers,freightforwardersorNon-VesselOperatingCommonCarrier(NVOCC)actingonbehalfoftheabove.For containerised cargoes with more than one shipper, i.e. in the case of Less-Than-Container Load (LCL) cargoes, the master shipper that is named on the bill of lading shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with SOLAS Regulation VI/2.3. What are the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder when transporting a container carrying cargo?The shipper is responsible for ensuring that:a. TheVerifiedGrossMass(VGM)ofapackedcontainerisobtainedusingeitherMethod1or2,describedatA4below;and b. TheVGMisrecordedontheshippingdocumentandsubmittedtotheterminaloperatorandthevesselmasterorhisrepresentative in a timely manner.WAVES | ISSUE 51