The container database has more than 500 registered users around the world.

A database of container technical details launched by the Bureau International des Containers (BIC) has now been loaded with the details of almost 3 million containers. With the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) three-month relaxed enforcement period for new container weighing rules ending, the database continues to grow.

Launched in July 2016, the BIC's BoxTech Technical Characteristics Database (TCD) supports shippers, carriers, leasing companies and container owners following the introduction of new SOLAS mandatory container weight verification requirements.

There is no charge for ocean carriers and container leasing companies to upload fleet details to the database, which now has more than 500 registered users around the world. With new container details added to the database each week, demand and interest in the service continue to increase.

The database makes fulfilling the recently introduced SOLAS requirements easier for Method 2 shippers, which is especially important now that the IMO's period of leniency has come to an end. However, in addition to those benefitting from automated access to tare weights for SOLAS VGM declarations, many users are also signing-up for easy access to container size and type, and other technical characteristics.

"We developed the pilot database in close partnership with container owners, operators and shippers to ensure it would meet their needs and minimise disruption as the new SOLAS requirements came into force," says Douglas Owen, secretary general of the BIC, the international organisation supporting the container industry with 2,100 container owner/operator members in 120 countries. "Now, four months on, we've found that there is a tremendous amount of interest in the supply chain which goes beyond SOLAS, both in terms of safety and improved efficiency.

"In speaking with BoxTech users, we've found that many aspects of the supply chain can be made more efficient when participants have easy access to data. They are telling us that having data in a single location makes great sense and that they want to move away from manual re-keying of data."

The BIC supports the international container industry with multiple registration databases and provides the BoxTech Technical Characteristics Database on a non-profit and non-commercial basis.