New regulation won’t upset existing system: official

 While Sri Lanka is gearing up to accommodate the new container weight rule under SOLAS, a top government authority assured it would be done in a manner in 
which the current system is least impacted.
Bringing the sector up to date on the status of the regulation draft, Ports and Shipping Ministry Director General Merchant Shipping Ajith Wickrama Seneviratne said, “We need to bring in a new set of rules to ensure the weighing is properly regulated and for that we have already conducted many meetings with the stakeholders. 

We will be facilitating the same without upsetting the existing system.”
Yet to be addressed and included in the draft are the cost involved in the mechanism and the licensing system for the weighbridges, which will issue the weight certification.
The Director General said that alongside the drafting exercise, weighing surveyors would be identified and ways of regulating them would be explored.

Despite just four months remaining to comply with the IMO requirement, the ministry is still open to proposals from the sector.

“All stakeholders can still send in their proposals so as to how we can comply with this requirement with minimum impact. We, at the ministry, are willing to discuss and take views on board,” said Seneviratne.

It is learnt that for this exercise, Sri Lanka is benchmarking the draft regulation of the UK and India.
According to the new rule, containers loaded onto vessels after July 1, 2016, which are not weight verified, may not be covered by the shipping line’s maritime insurance. The vessel may not be considered seaworthy.
The IMO has emphasized that it is important for shipping lines to load only containers that are weight verified.