Sunday, June 29, 2025
Home News DCSA unveils first set of standards for cargo operations

DCSA unveils first set of standards for cargo operations

The Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) has released Load List and Bay Plan Definitions, which puts forth standards and timelines for communication of container volumes and stowage details between VSA (vessel sharing agreement) partners, terminals and ports.

The document covers the definitions, standards and communication timelines for carriers participating in a vessel sharing agreement and is initially focused on addressing inter-regional or deep sea services where participating members share one or more vessels/services between one or more partners.

In agreement with DCSA’s nine member carriers, MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, Evergreen, Yang Ming, HMM and ZIM, the definitions combine existing event standards with recommended submission timelines developed by DCSA.

“When preparing port calls, it is essential for the vessel operator to be able to forecast the estimated number of container moves (load and discharge) in order to estimate the required terminal equipment (cranes etc.), and hence, the duration of the call,” explains DCSA in its announcement and went on, “As such, the vessel operator relies on receiving timely and accurate information from partners about the volume of containers they intend to load within their allocation and how the contents need to be stowed.”.

In setting the definitions to address this need, DCSA consulted four of the world’s largest terminal operators.

Adoption of DCSA Load List and Bay Plan Definitions will help maximise efficiency of cargo operations and enable better planning of related shipping activities, DCSA argued.

This is the first in a series of standards releases from DCSA that specifically address cargo operations. Subsequent standards will expand to topics such as empty handling and dangerous goods.





Latest Posts

UWL announces vessel partnership with Emirates Shipping Line

UWL, a leading American-owned NVOCC (Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier) and global logistics provider, welcomes Emirates Shipping Line as the new vessel partner for its...

Sea-Intelligence: Port Power Rankings

 Sea-Intelligence analyses port performance in terms of schedule reliability, across the 202 deep-sea ports with the largest number of container vessel calls, by creating...

Suez slowdown reshapes Red Sea’s port map

The macro picture of the Red Sea is worsen as canal transits are at half-mast, and the region has relinquished its role as the...

We asked AI: When containers become pools

We asked AI what a container might look like if it was trasformed into a pool. The result? Long steel containers, many of them stacked,...

Transpacific crash may normalise charter market

Containership charter rates, which have defied the freight slump for some time, could be peaking, as some small ships chartered by opportunistic operators for...
error: Content is protected !!