Bulk Cargoes Shortages In Uruguay

CIRCULAR ROU/01/08

Montevideo, April, 2008.-

A significant increase in the number of bulk cargoes shortages in Montevideo and Nueva Palmira, Uruguay, has been recorded in the last year.-
Bulk cargoes in the ports of Montevideo and Nueva Palmira are discharged by means of grabs from holds to hoppers, and then to trucks, which are weighed in the official shore scales of the National Ports’ Administration before leaving the port area.-
It has been noted the increase in shortage claims on those vessels where the Owners did not have a surveyor controlling the weighing of trucks at the shore scale.

Otherwise, when surveyors on behalf of vessel’s Owners are appointed and the weighing of the trucks at the shore scale is performed, claims for shortages are usually avoided.

The appointment of surveyors for carrying out just draft surveys, is often requested by vessels’ Owners, but in case a shortage is verified and the claim is brought to a judicial stage, the draft survey results are not accepted by Courts at all, and the shore scale records are the only valid proof for evidencing the shortage as, it is considered by local Courts, that the shore scale weighting method is more accurate and reliable than those weights ascertained through draft surveys.

In order to frustrate these sort of claims, Members are recommended to appoint their own surveyor to be in attendance during off loading and arrange for “truck weighting controls” at the official shore scale, with the purpose of having evidence to reflect the full amount unloaded.

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