A study of the implementation of the new VGM-regulations and its impact on operations of concerned actors

Misdeclaration of container weights have long been a pronounced problem within the maritime shipping industry. As a result of accidents that have occurred at sea, where inaccurate cargo weight declaration has been deemed a strong contributing factor, the UN:s maritime body, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), has established new amendments to the already existing SOLAS- convention. The amendments states that a verified gross mass (VGM) value must be declared for every container being loaded on to a ship. The new VGM-directives were implemented on the 1st of July 2016 in all the countries which have ratified the convention, among those Sweden. These new directives are the first issued by the IMO which are aimed at the shipper directly. The purpose of the new regulations is to increase the maritime safety at sea and during cargo operations. This report aims to investigate if the purpose behind the new amendments has been achieved in Sweden, and how the new regulations have affected the operations of concerned actors in the container shipping industry. It has been investigated how, and to what extent, the actors of the industry have been forced to adapt their operations to the new regulations, how their work routines has changed and their opinion of the outcome of the implementation of the new regulations in Sweden. Furthermore, the authors have investigated how the Swedish implementation process was performed and how the international regulations have been interpreted and established in Swedish law. The authors base the report primarily on interviews with individuals with several years of experience and with a considerable foundation of knowledge. These individuals are all parts of different actors along the transport chain, who operates in the Gothenburg area. Based on this method of gathering data, the writers have gained both up to date- and detailed primary data which they have used as a foundation when writing this report. This data is furthermore the source for what they have based their discussion part on, and later made the conclusions based on this information. The report will assess the current business environment of the concerned actors, and how these new regulations have forced the commercial actors to adapt their businesses and change their everyday work routines. Furthermore, the report will show that the overall opinion regarding these new regulations have been positive, even though the majority of the actors have had some concern and criticism directed towards the responsible governmental body and the way they have handled the implementation of the new regulations in Sweden