SCAC CODES ON CHEMICAL TANKERS- CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL

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

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