PORT OF LE HAVRE: EVOLUTION OF THE VGM DECLARATION PROCEDURE

Union Maritime Portuaire Le Havre announces a change in the procedure for VGM (Verified Gross Mass) declarations for containers from June 2, 2025, to secure and optimize the entire transport chain.

PRECISE, NON-MODIFIABLE DECLARATION

An important SOLAS measure, the VGM declaration has been required prior to any entry into the Port of Le Havre terminals (at least one hour before), since July 1, 2016, regardless of the mode of transport used (road, barge, rail). The VGM weight, thus fixed on entry to the terminal, cannot be modified thereafter, from June 2, 2025.

Shippers, or their representatives, are still obliged to declare the data required by the SOLAS Convention in the Community tool S)One, before the container enters the terminal: booking and container number, weight of the goods, as well as the method and unit of measurement used.

Linked to their IT systems, the information is directly known by the shipping lines.

The aim of this measure is to limit weight discrepancies between the weight communicated on entry to the terminal and that finally recorded in the shipping lines’ data.

The maximum possible difference between the exact weight of the container and that declared in the shipping document is +/- 500 kg. If these provisions are not respected, the container may not be loaded onto the vessel. Any resulting costs, including those for parking and taking back containers, will be borne by the shipper.

Failure to make a VGM declaration will result in the container being refused access to port terminals. 

SOLAS CONVENTION

Knowing the weight of each container is crucial to ensuring a ship’s balance and thus avoiding incidents at sea or shipwrecks. As such, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has required carriers, since July 1, 2016 via the SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) Convention, to declare and verify the gross mass of each container.

Two methods exist for determining the VGM:

• Weighing the stuffed and sealed container
• Weighing each item individually before stuffing into the container, with the weight of the empty container added.

Find out more about the SOLAS Convention: click here.

Please do not hesitate to contact our teams for further details on the new procedure.