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HPHT ready for SOLAS
Leading global terminal operator announces terminals in Hong Kong and Shenzhen are ready to offer container weighing services to meet the new SOLAS requirement.
Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPHT) has announced that its key terminals, including Hong Kong International Terminals, COSCO-HIT Terminals and Asia Container Terminals in Hong Kong and Yantian International Container Terminals in Shenzhen – “are ready to offer container weighing services to its customers. This is an effort to support the IMO (International Maritime Organization) amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention which takes effect from 1 July 2016”.
Gerry Yim, Chief Executive Officer of HPHT, said, “As the leading natural deep-water terminal operator in South China handling up to 33,000 containers per day, we support the SOLAS convention and understand our customers’ concerns in coping with the challenges. Our ports are ready with the necessary equipment and processes to offer container weighing services, and we are actively engaging our customers to help them achieve a seamless transition.”
HPHT has done what ICHCA and the TT Club have been pleading with the industry to do for months and worked with its shipping community and regulator to come up with a practical approach to VGM compliance. “HPHT has conducted a number of customer communications sessions and pilot exercises with shippers and shipping lines across Hong Kong and Shenzhen to ensure that they are fully informed of the changes brought by SOLAS and HPHT’s contingency measures to address any technical and operational issues that may arise. These sessions were fruitful as shippers and shipping lines could better understand the company’s readiness for SOLAS and valuable feedback was received.”
An event on May 20 attracted about 120 attendees from shipping lines, while another on 25 May drew over 200 terminal end-user participants. Representatives from the Maritime Bureau and other government organisations also attended both events.
With regard to how it will weigh containers, HPHT said it has a total of 32 weighing facilities across its Hong Kong and Shenzhen container terminal operations. These include weighbridges (pictured).
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