Hainan Airlines is expanding its presence in Australia with new Brisbane - Shenzhen nonstop flights from 20th September 2017.

The Chinese carrier plans to serve the route twice a week with Airbus A330 equipment, see current flight schedule below.

Brisbane / Shenzhen    Depart: Monday & Thursday 1130hrs, Arrive 1840hrs

Shenzhen / Brisbane    Depart: Wednesday & Sunday 2235hrs, Arrive 0930hrs next day

Following on from our recent announcements on the SOLAS Verified Gross Mass (VGM) regulations, we need to advise this will also affect exporters of seafreight LCL cargo.

Whilst there are no official requirements for LCL cargo, responsibility for the submission of the VGM lies with the shipper. In the seafreight LCL environment, space is purchased per cubic metre from a carrier. The carrier becomes the shipper of record on the Master Bill of Lading issued by the shipping line and responsible for the VGM.

From 1st July 2016 the changes to the SOLAS convention will require shippers to provide the 'Verified Gross Mass' (VGM) of a container before it can be loaded on board a vessel.

No container will be shipped without a Verified Gross Mass (VGM), validated prior to arrival at the terminal. The VGM is to be transmitted to the terminal via the current Pre-Receival Advice (PRA) process.

As from 1st July, 2016, the new international regulation from the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) will begin. All shippers of containerised cargo will be responsible for the verification of the packed container’s weight and run the risk of penalties and missing intended sailings, if the Verified Gross Mass (VGM) documentation compliance is not complete.