Napier weighed in for SOLAS

Port of Napier chief operating officer Chris Bain said his port devised its own system of weighing each export container by forklift upon receival into the container terminal and taking action as appropriate in 2006.

He said having pursued the policy primarily for safety reasons; it was a “happy coincidence” to be compliant with the new SOLAS requirements some eight years later.

“Chapter VI’s new requirements increase a terminal’s workload and obligations by them having to satisfy itself that each container weight is accurate,” he says.

“We strongly prefer that containers are physically in our possession in order to verify the weight. When there are information gaps we are unable plan an efficient loading of vessels. We then need to review the information and deal with any exceptions.”

The port was now reviewing if container delivery to its terminal might have to be brought forward 12 hours to accommodate increased compliance requirements, as well as considering possible investment in an in-ground drive-over weighing method.

“We can continue as we are for the time being, aside from handling the extra procedural changes introduced by SOLAS Chapter VI. [We are] still at the investigation stage; there is no absolute rush given we already have a proven method.”