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We are pleased to announce that DP World London Gateway and DP World Southampton has invested in state of the art container weighing solutions to provide shippers and Freight Forwarders with a seamless service when exporting goods through its UK container terminals.
 
With the added benefit of no disruption to the export supply chain and no delays for hauliers at the terminal while obtaining the container weight.
 
DP World will provide Shippers and Freight Forwarders with fully compliant and verified weighing solutions to meet the new International Maritime Organisation legislation which comes into effect on 1 July 2016.



Why does my container have to be weighed?

 
From the 1st of July 2016, every laden export container will be required to have its weight verified before it is loaded onto a ship.
 
All laden export containers must have a Verified Gross Mass (VGM) certificate before it is loaded onto a vessel.
 
The shipper is responsible for providing the VGM of a container regardless of who actually packs it.
 
If a shipper provides their own certified weight, they need to ensure that the VGM is communicated within the shipping documents sufficiently in advance to be used in preparation of the vessels stowage plan.
 
This is a new international regulation that has been introduced by the International Maritime Organisation as part of the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) regulations.


As advised above DP World will offer shippers and Freight Forwarders an efficient service to weigh laden export containers at their UK terminals.
 
This removes the need for shippers to arrange for the certified weight themselves. By offering this service, Exports from DP London Gateway and DP Southampton terminals are assured that DP World have a good solution in place before 1 July 2016, irrespective of the number of export containers which need to be weighed.
 
 
PORT OF FELIXSTOWE ALSO TO OFFER CONTAINER WEIGHING SOLUTION
 
In addition to the above information, Felixstowe Port will also offer a similar solution for weighing containers, please read more by clicking on the below link:

Felixstowe Container Weighing (FCS International Shipping Update)


IMPORTANT

When booking and loading a container with FCS International Shipping (Part of FCS Solutions Limited) we will require as standard documentary procedures that from 01/07/2016 we receive a copy of a ‘VGM Certificate’ duly authorised and signed by the Shipper or indeed authority for the Ports providing VGM solutions to undertake this procedure on behalf of the shipper.
 
If a certificate is not passed to FCS and if the marine terminal does not have equipment to weigh the container and provide a verified weight, alternative means must be found at the full expense of the shipper to obtain a verified container weight; otherwise, the packed container WILL not be loaded on to the ship as without a verified weight this will be breaking the law and could face fines and prosecution.
 
Further information to follow in due course.
 
Any questions please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team:

e: sales@fcsinternationalshipping.com
t: +44 (0) 1278 420355

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The Port of Felixstowe has confirmed that it will offer a container weighing service to ensure UK shippers are able to comply with new international regulations that will come into effect on 1 July 2016.
 
Commenting on the new service, Stephen Abraham, Chief Operating Officer of Port of Felixstowe, said:
 
“We have met with many customers and from their feedback it is clear that there is still a lot of uncertainty amongst exporters about the new rules.
 
“The rules have the potential to cause significant disruption to export supply chains. To help avoid this, we have decided to provide a service where export containers can be weighed at the port before being loaded. We will provide further details about how the weighing service will work in good time to ensure all exporters can be compliant by the time the new rules come into force.”
 
From July, an amendment to the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) Convention will require every export container carrying cargo to have its weight verified before it is loaded on to a ship.
 
The Port of Felixstowe has taken a leading role in the consultation exercise by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on the implementation of the rules in the UK.
 
The service at the port will be available to containers arriving either by road or rail. The Port of Felixstowe is the UK’s largest intermodal rail terminal and 40% of all laden export containers arrive at the port by rail.
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FCS recently exported 4 very large crates via Air Freight on behalf of a UK Client.

The pictures in this post show behind the scenes operations and a rare sight showing the crates being loaded onto a 747-400 cargo flight.
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Our Client custom built the crates based on our guided measurements to ensure they would fit through the cargo door. Although a tight squeeze, the crates were made to perfection and loaded smoothly.

For any air freight rate requests, BIG or small please contact our dedicated team: sales@fcsinternationalshipping.com | +44 (0) 1278 420355