SCAC
CODES ON CHEMICAL TANKERS - CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
SCAC code: ( Standard
Carrier Alpha Code )—for US , Canadian and Korean cargoes . When a cargo is
loaded for discharge in a U.S. Port, U.S. Customs require a unique Bill of
Lading number to be on the original(s) Bill(s) of Lading.
First four characters –
official code given to ship owners
Four or five characters
– ship’s call sign
Next six characters –
Bill of Lading Date, date/month/year i.e. 140209 (meaning 14th February 2009)
Final character –
numeric character 1-9 assigned by person signing Bill of Lading on the day of
issue and illustrating the consecutive number of original sets of Bills issued
on that date. If more than nine sets of original Bills of Lading are issued the
code should be continued by reverting to alphabetical characters commencing at
A progressing to Z, therefore allowing 35 sets of bills to be issued on any one
day.
Note This applies to
each set of bills, so if three original bills are required for a parcel each
will have
the same number on the
original, duplicate and triplicate original bills.
Examples
of the above system are:
The “ COMPANY” loads
one parcel for discharge in the USA. Any documents concerning this parcel (but
in particular the cargo manifest completed on arrival in the USA) will have the
following code put on them:
COMPELQG50402091 –
where:
COMP is the four
character group given to COMPANY vessels
ELQG5 is the ship’s call
sign
040209 is the bill of
lading date 4th February 2009
1 is the consecutive
number of the bill or set of bills.
Those ships with 5
characters in their call sign and loading greater than 9 parcels may be
illustrated as follows:
COMPANYMWSR6160109C
would be the 12th set of original bills issued by the Master of the “Maltida”
on the 16th January 1999.
The responsibility for
providing the “unique number” is the responsibility of the ship owner . Some
third party owners may have created their own system for their own ships. There may also be occasions where
sub-Charterers require their own identifier. Masters are to ensure the
identifier is included within their cargo report
The Standard Carrier
Alpha Code, is to identify freight carriers in computer systems and shipping
documents such as Bill of Lading, Freight Bill, Packing List, and Purchase
Order.
SCAC is also used to identify an ocean carrier or self-filing party,
such as a freight forwarder, for the Automated Manifest System used by US
Customs and Border Protection for electronic import customs clearance and for
manifest transmission as per the USA's "24 Hours Rule" which requires
the carrier to transmit a cargo manifest to US Customs at least 24 hours prior
to a vessel's departure at port of loading.
Most major petroleum
companies use the SCAC to identify the companies that pick up product at their
terminals. Further, SCACs are required when doing business with all U.S.
Government agencies and with many commercial shippers including, but not
limited to, those in the automobile, petroleum, forest products, and chemical
industries as well as suppliers to retail businesses and carriers engaged in
railroad piggyback trailer and ocean container drayage. SCACs are also required
for the Customs and Border Protection’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE),
Automated Manifest (AMS) and Pre-Arrival Processing (PAPS) Systems, and the
Surface Transportation Board (formerly interstate Commerce Commission) tariff
filing system.
CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
29 YEARS IN COMMAND
..
No comments:
Post a Comment