India´s ports brace for new rule on weighing containers

Indian ports loading cargo containers are bracing for a global rule, starting 1 July, which mandates shippers to verify and declare the weight of a container before loading it on a ship for export.
India´s maritime regulator, the Director General of Shipping (DGS), which is tasked with implementing the rule in India, has given more time to shippers to comply with the requirements. This is in line with a ´practical and pragmatic´ approach advised by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the global body shepherding the regulation aimed at boosting maritime safety by checking wrong declaration of container weights and preventing fatalities. In November 2014, the IMO, the agency of the United Nations tasked with regulating international seaborne trade, approved amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea Convention, which will require verification and documentation of loaded containers before they can be loaded on to vessels.