DP World has invested in state of the art container weighing solutions to provide shippers with a seamless service when exporting goods through its UK container terminals.
At DP World London Gateway and DP World Southampton we will provide you with fully compliant and verified weighing solutions to meet the new International Maritime Organisation legislation which came into effect on 1 July 2016.
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.
To help our customers DP World offers shippers an efficient service to weigh laden export containers at our UK terminals.
This removes the need for shippers to arrange for the certified weight themselves. By offering this service, customers of our terminals are assured that they have a good solution in place before 1 July 2016, irrespective of the number of export containers which need to be weighed.
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.
The new system will be ready to accept VGM notifications for containers that are loaded on board of vessels at DP World London Gateway or DP World Southampton after 00:01 hrs on 1 July 2016.
This means that containers which are due to be loaded on or after 1 July will need to ensure they will have a verified gross mass available.
You can either:
CNS Compass is the port community system for both DP World London Gateway and DP World Southampton. Once you are registered with CNS Compass, you will find helpful documents, guides and video tutorials to explain how you can either instruct DP World to weigh your container or provide DP World with a VGS.
Through the Port Community System CNS Compass, the shipping line will provide our terminals with an electronic pre-notification of each laden export container, indicating amongst others the container number, port of discharge and export voyage. Your shipping line or your nominated agent must declare via CNS Compass whether we will receive a VGM from the shipper or that the terminal is requested to determine the VGM of the container on arrival (Terminal determined VGM or TVGM).
If you are a CNS Compass user, and or the nominated agent, click-here for more detailed information on logging your VGM requirements.
All hauliers should proceed to the terminal as normal. Your truck and box will be processed as per normal operational procedures at DP World London Gateway or DP World Southampton.
There is no change to our in-gate procedures. DP World in the UK is offering a seamless service and container weighing solutions that are fully integrated within our normal operational procedures.
At DP World London Gateway
We will determine the VGM by using load cells on our Automated Stacking Cranes, in accordance with the requirements of the MCA.
At DP World Southampton
We will determine the VGM by using load cells on our straddle carriers, in accordance with the requirements of the MCA.
Please note: These arrangements are subject to changes to the Marine Guidance Note MGN534 and subsequent publications from the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA).
DP World has made substantial investments to facilitate the weighing of containers without impacting on the efficiency of our operational processes. We will also continue to invest in the maintenance of our equipment to ensure that our weighing solutions are fully compliant with the regulations as published by the MCA.
For our service applying to all laden export containers we will charge one of the following fees to recover our investments and additional (administrative) recurring costs, applicable for vessel departures from 1 July 2020 onwards:
Where the Shipper VGM is provided prior to arrival at the terminal | £1.10 | Per VGM supplied |
Shipper VGM provision after box arrival | £3.30 | Per VGM supplied |
Additional charge if no VGM received 24 hours before the expected arrival of the vessel | £10.00 | Per VGM not supplied in time |
Where the terminal is requested to weigh the container and provide a terminal VGM (TVGM) with electronic signature | £19.25 | Per VGM provided by terminal |
VGM mis-declaration fee VGM measured by the terminal differs more than 900kg or 5% (whichever is more) from the Shipper-provided weight |
£23.00 | Per instance |
The admin charge covers:
• Registration with CNS Compass and access to the new VGM functionality of CNS Compass.
You can register with CNS Compass here
• Option to ‘claim’ your export containers and provide your VGM for each container direct to the terminal, if not done through the shipping line.
• Processing of all VGM data to the relevant parties including the shipping line
• Changes to our IT systems to prevent containers without VGM to be loaded on board.
• Regular checks and VGM reporting as requested by the MCA
• Even if the terminal did not provide a direct weighing service for shippers, we have to invest to ensure compliance with the new SOLAS regulations and this charge is intended to recover this investment and the recurring costs.
The above charges may be passed on with a surcharge by the Shipping Line or Freight Forwarder if not charged directly through the Port Community System CNS Compass. For these costs to be charged directly to shippers or their agents, the correct CNS identification needs to be provided for each laden export container, otherwise the charge will be made through the Shipping Line.
Please note: The terminal will be required to provide relevant information to the MCA for auditing and examination purposes, which is included in the above charges.
Our prices and public tariffs are subject to annual RPI changes.
Pricing exceptions:
If a shipper VGM is expected, but not provided by the vessel cut-off time (24 hrs before vessel arrival) or prior to arrival of the container, the charge will be:
£3.30 (VGM after gate) + £19.25 + £10.00
If our determined weight differs from the provided VGM, we will be using the following criteria:
For containers with a Shipper VGM under 18,000 kgs we will only apply our charges if our determined weight differs by more than 900 kgs
For containers with a Shipper VGM over 18,000 kgs we will only apply our charges if our determined weight differs by more than 5%
For Out of Tolerance boxes the TVGM will be used and the following charge applies:
If the VGM measured by the terminal differs more than 900 kg or 5% (whichever is more) from the shipper provided weight, the Terminal VGM will be used and the following charge applies:
£1.10 (VGM before gate in) or £3.30 (VGM after gate in) + £19.24 + £23.00 (mis-declaration fee)
Special Requests:
Re-weighing request of an export or import container (where this is still possible):
Standard unit £52.89
Reefer unit: £79.09
Container weighing for ‘Out of Gauge’ containers
We are able to provide the VGM for “Out of Gauge” containers. For more detailed information about Out of Gauge containers, please visit DP World Southampton and DP World London Gateway.
Please note: The terminal will be required to provide relevant information to the MCA for auditing and examination purposes, which is included in the above charges.
Our prices and public tariffs are subject to annual RPI changes.
Shipping lines will be able to assign a code for the export booking agent or shipper in the port community system CNS Compass, similar to the clearance agent for import containers. The shipper or agent must be a contracted customer of CNS. If shippers do not have an existing badge with CNS Compass they can register for a VGM only badge with limited functionality related to the Verified Gross Mass of containers. The costs of such a VGM only badge are covered by the charges mentioned above.
The fees for container weighing / VGM declarations will be charged to the nominated party unless this code is not filled in, in which case the charge defaults to the shipping line.
Cargo Owner / exporter:
Please contact your nominated shipping agent or freight forwarder to instruct them to ask DP World to weigh your containers or determine how you will obtain a VGM and ensure they communicate this to DP World via our CNS Compass system.
Shipping agent / freight forwarder:
Please ensure you have a valid CNS Compass access licence and are familiar with the new process for logging VGM.
Haulier:
No additional actions are required.
Frequently Asked Questions