IMSBC Section 4: Shipper Declaration

The shipper’s cargo declaration is the document that lets a master decide whether a solid bulk consignment is acceptable. SOLAS regulation VI/2 places the duty on the shipper to provide the master with appropriate information sufficiently in advance of loading, confirmed in writing, and routes its content to section 4 of the IMSBC Code. Section 4, titled Assessment of acceptability of consignments for safe shipment, places the cargo information duty on the shipper and lists eighteen items at 4.2.2. They include the Bulk Cargo Shipping Name, the group, the total quantity, the stowage factor, the bulk density where SOLAS regulation XII/10 applies, trimming, and whether the cargo is harmful to the marine environment under MARPOL Annex V.

The full article will cover which items apply to which group, since several are qualified by if applicable. The moisture content and transportable moisture limit certificate at item .10 applies only to a Group A cargo, so a Group B or Group C consignment carries no TML certificate, and the narrowing of that wording from the 2008 text is worth stating precisely. It will set out the declaration form at 4.2.3, which carries tick boxes for harmful and not harmful to the marine environment, and note that another form may be used and that electronic data processing or interchange is permitted.

It will also address a common misreading: section 4 contains no power for the master to refuse a cargo. The refusal and suspension routes are IMSBC 5.1.3, SOLAS regulation VI/7.5, the master’s overriding authority under ISM Code paragraph 5.2, and the contract of carriage.