BAPLIE Stowage Plan Messages: What Shippers and Forwarders Need

A forwarder's operations desk gets a call from the carrier: the 40-foot high cube booked last week has been moved from the top of a deck stack to a lower tier, and a shifting charge is coming. Nobody on the desk has ever seen the message that recorded the move, because it went from the terminal to the carrier and never touched the forwarder's system. The weight that caused it, however, came from the shipper's own VGM entry.

That is the usual relationship between shippers and the BAPLIE message: they never send it, yet their booking, weight and dangerous goods data decide what it says. Knowing how a bay plan is built lets an EDI analyst trace a shifting charge, a rollover or a US filing problem back to the field that caused it.

• What this guide covers: what BAPLIE describes, the versions in use, how a stowage cell is coded, what one container entry holds, how VGM and dangerous goods appear, and the US stow plan rule in 19 CFR 4.7c.
• What it adds: an annotated BAPLIE fragment, a missing tare weight traced from booking to final bay plan, a cost ledger in dollars and rupees, and an onboarding checklist for teams that receive bay plan data.

What a BAPLIE message describes and who sends it to whom

BAPLIE is the UN/EDIFACT message that lists every occupied, and optionally every blocked, stowage position on a container ship, with the equipment and cargo in each one. It moves between terminals and carriers, between carriers sharing a vessel, and from carriers to authorities.

The name abbreviates "bayplan/stowage plan occupied and empty locations message". SMDG, the Ship-planning Message Design Group, maintains the implementation guides that carriers and terminals actually follow. Its own summary says the message is used between carriers and terminals in ship planning, between lines for accounting, and for reporting to authorities. A shipper or forwarder appears in it only through references, such as the booking number.

• Terminal to carrier: after loading, the terminal sends a bay plan showing where each container went, so the carrier's stowage centre can update the vessel's master plan.
• Carrier to next terminal: the plan travels ahead of the ship so the next port can plan discharge and loading around what is already aboard.
• Between vessel-sharing partners: slot owners and booking parties exchange bay plans to account for the slots each one used.
• Carrier to customs: in the United States the carrier files a vessel stow plan with CBP, and CBP accepts it in the SMDG BAPLIE format.

Stowage instructions run the other way. The MIG notes that positions available for loading are set by the vessel operator's stowage instructions, for example in the MOVINS message, so BAPLIE reports what is on board while MOVINS tells a terminal where it may load. For the earlier booking messages between shipper and carrier, see our guide to EDI 300 and 301 ocean booking messages.

BAPLIE versions in use and why SMDG now recommends 3.1

Two families are live: BAPLIE 2.x on the old EDIFACT directory D.95B and BAPLIE 3.x on D.13B. SMDG recommends version 3.1 for new implementations and describes 2.x as deprecated but still maintained, so a receiving system must usually read both.

Version 3 changed several things that matter outside the ship-planning office. The BGM segment now says whether the message is a full bay plan (document code 658) or a partial one (659), such as a single line's containers. Stowage locations per message rose from 9,999 to 99,999. Dangerous goods moved into a new DGS group, and verified gross mass can be flagged explicitly with a measurement code introduced in directory D.15B.

Reading a stowage cell: bay, row and tier in seven digits

Every container's position on a cellular ship is a seven-digit code in the format BBBRRTT: three digits for the bay, two for the row and two for the tier, as defined by ISO 9711. The LOC segment with qualifier 147 carries it.

The SMDG guide gives worked examples. LOC+147+0010082 means bay 001, row 00, which is the centre row, and tier 82, the first tier on deck on a ship with fewer than ten deck tiers. ISO 9711 starts on-deck tiers at 82 and rises in even numbers. Leading zeros are added so each part keeps its length, and the code list qualifier 9711 tells the receiver which scheme applies.

• Tall deck stacks: ISO 9711 allows only nine tiers on deck, so SMDG Recommendation 01 starts on-deck numbering at tier 72 for ships with ten or more deck tiers; LOC+147+0351072 is bay 035, row 10, first deck tier on such a ship.
• RoRo vessels: a two-digit deck number is prepended, giving nine digits (DDBBBRRTT), with positions assigned by the carrier rather than by ISO 9711.
• Blocked positions: BAPLIE can also list cells that cannot be used, such as a lost slot beside an over-width box or a damaged cell guide, with a reference to the container causing the block.

For a forwarder, the stowage cell is mainly useful as evidence. A container moved from tier 86 to tier 82 between two bay plans has been re-stowed, and the cell codes in the draft and final plans show when and where that happened, which matters when a shifting charge arrives.

Inside one container entry: equipment, weights, ports and references

After the LOC+147 segment, an equipment group describes the container in that cell: its number and ISO size-type, its operator, its weights, its ports, its booking reference and any special handling. Each weight carries its own code, which is where most mapping errors start.

The fragment below is an illustrative entry for one 40-foot high cube carrying paint, written to the BAPLIE 3.1 structure. It shows a verified gross mass, a reference to the VGM documentation, the ports of loading and discharge, the booking number and a dangerous goods group. Segment terminators are apostrophes; the line breaks are for reading only.

UNH+BP20451+BAPLIE:D:13B:UN:SMDG31'
BGM+658+BP20451+9++38'
LOC+147+0340482:9711:5'
EQD+CN+TCLU6621908:6346:5+45G1:6346:5+++5'
NAD+CF+XYZ:LINES:306'
MEA+AAE+VGM+KGM:26310'
MEA+AAE+T+KGM:3820'
FTX+AAY++DRF:VGM:306+202611100930UTC:EXPORTER DOCS DESK MUMBAI:TEL ON FILE:VGM-77120'
LOC+9+INNSA'
LOC+11+USEWR'
RFF+BN:2HNSA48112'
DGS+IMD+3+1263+030:CEL+3+F-E,S-E'
ATT+26+PSN:DGATT:306+:::PAINT'
CNT+8:1'

Reading the entry
  LOC+147+0340482   bay 034, row 04, tier 82 (first deck tier)
  EQD+CN            container number, ISO size-type 45G1, full (5)
  NAD+CF            container operator, the booking party
  MEA+AAE+VGM       26,310 kg verified gross mass under SOLAS VI/2
  MEA+AAE+T         3,820 kg tare
  FTX+AAY, DRF      reference to the VGM documentation
  LOC+9 / LOC+11    port of loading Nhava Sheva, port of discharge Newark
  RFF+BN            booking party's booking number
  DGS+IMD           IMDG class 3, UN 1263, flashpoint 30 C, packing group III,
                    EmS F-E, S-E
  CNT+8             control total of stowage locations

Two codes in the equipment segment are easy to miss. The full or empty indicator (4 for empty, 5 for full) changes how stacking weight is calculated, and an "operator" may be two parties: SMDG uses NAD+CF for the container operator or booking party and NAD+GF for the slot owner in a vessel-sharing agreement, each with its own reference (RFF+BN and RFF+CN).

BAPLIE 3.1 on EDIFACT directory D.13B records each container under a LOC+147 stowage cell in ISO 9711 BBBRRTT format, with MEA+AAE+VGM for a SOLAS-verified gross mass and MEA+AAE+AET when verification is unknown; a forwarder system that maps both codes to one weight field loses the verification status permanently.

Verified gross mass in the bay plan and the SOLAS VI/2 duty behind it

Under SOLAS chapter VI regulation 2, in force since 1 July 2016, the shipper must provide a verified gross mass in advance so the master and the terminal can use it in the stowage plan. BAPLIE is one of the places that VGM ends up, and it can say whether the weight was verified.

The IMO amendments, adopted by resolution MSC.380(94), allow two methods: weighing the packed container, or weighing all packages and cargo items, including pallets, dunnage and securing material, and adding the container's tare. IMO describes the VGM as a condition for loading, though having it does not entitle a container to be loaded; the master keeps discretion. MSC.1/Circ.1475 gives the guidelines, including what happens when a container arrives without a VGM.

• Verified flag: the gross mass sits in MEA with code VGM when the sender is assured it was verified under SOLAS, and with code AET when verification is unknown or not yet done.
• Evidence of verification: partners can agree to send documentation in FTX with qualifier AAY, using the SMDG VGM code list: SHP for the responsible shipper, SM1 and SM2 for the method, and DRF for a reference to the documents.
• Optional by agreement: the SMDG guide states that use of these VGM data elements is optional and needs agreement between the communicating partners, so a receiver must check the partner profile before relying on the flag.
• India: the Directorate General of Shipping applies the SOLAS rule through MS Notice 04 of 2016 dated 11 May 2016, as amended, which also lists approved weighbridges, secure VGM websites and Method 2 shippers.

The workflow of collecting and submitting VGM before the cutoff, including replacement containers, is covered in our VGM readiness workflow. This article picks up the weight after submission, when it becomes a field in the vessel's bay plan and starts to drive where the box is stowed.

Dangerous goods positions and the DGS segment group

Each dangerous goods item in a container gets its own DGS group in BAPLIE 3, naming the regulation, the class, the UN number and supporting attributes. Planners use these entries to check that incompatible cargo is not stowed too close together.

The DGS segment's first element names the regulation: IMD for the IMO IMDG Code, or CFR for US 49 CFR, which SMDG provides for hazards an authority identifies outside the IMDG Code, such as combustible liquids. Then come the hazard class, the four-digit UN number, the flashpoint with its unit, the packing group (1, 2 or 3 for great, medium or minor danger) and the EmS emergency schedule numbers. ATT segments add attributes such as the proper shipping name, marine pollutant status or a limited quantity.

A segregation check is only as good as the class and UN number it receives. An error on the declaration flows straight into the bay plan, and the planning software will place the container lawfully for the wrong substance. Our hazmat segregation table guide explains how separation rules are read; BAPLIE is where the result of that reading is recorded.

Dangerous goods in a BAPLIE 3.1 bay plan sit in the DGS segment group, naming the regulation (IMD or CFR), hazard class, four-digit UN number, flashpoint, packing group and EmS codes; under 19 CFR 4.7c the hazmat code is one of seven container fields in each CBP stow plan.

US stow plan filing under 19 CFR 4.7c and the position in India

In the United States the incoming carrier must send CBP a vessel stow plan no later than 48 hours after the ship leaves its last foreign port, and CBP accepts it as an SMDG BAPLIE. India has no equivalent customs stow plan filing that we could identify; there, BAPLIE stays a commercial message between lines and terminals.

Section 4.7c applies to vessels required to make entry, except those carrying only bulk or break bulk cargo, with compliance from 26 January 2010. For voyages shorter than 48 hours, CBP must receive the plan before arrival at the first US port. When CBP adopted the rule in CBP Dec. 08-46, it said it would accept stow plans in the SMDG BAPLIE format and work with carriers on the ANSI X12 324 format case by case.

• Vessel data required: vessel name with IMO number, vessel operator and voyage number.
• Container data required: container operator, equipment number, size and type, stow position, hazmat code if applicable, port of lading and port of discharge.
• Bond consequence: under 19 CFR 113.64(g), a carrier that defaults on the stow plan obligation and its surety agree to pay liquidated damages of $50,000 for each vessel arrival.
• Shipper exposure: the filing duty and the liquidated damages sit with the carrier, but the hazmat code and equipment data come from shipper and forwarder bookings, so a wrong entry upstream ends up in the carrier's filing.

Vessel stow plans for US arrivals are due to CBP no later than 48 hours after departure from the last foreign port under 19 CFR 4.7c, accepted in SMDG BAPLIE format per CBP Dec. 08-46, and a carrier's bond under 19 CFR 113.64(g) carries $50,000 liquidated damages for each defaulted vessel arrival.

Indian import and export manifests are filed by carriers under the Sea Cargo Manifest and Transhipment Regulations, 2018, through ICEGATE, and VGM is enforced through the DG Shipping notice above. Indian shippers therefore meet BAPLIE indirectly: through the VGM and dangerous goods data they send, and through re-stow or shut-out charges when that data is wrong.

A missing tare weight traced from booking to the final bay plan

The most common shipper-caused bay plan error is a gross mass that leaves out the container's tare. The illustrative trace below, for one 40-foot high cube from Nhava Sheva to Newark, shows how the error travels and what it costs on both sides of the voyage.

• Mon 10:05, exporter's ERP: the shipping clerk enters the VGM for TCLU 662190-8 on the forwarder's portal as 22,490 kg, the cargo weight from the packing list, leaving out the 3,820 kg tare; the portal accepts it because no rule compares VGM with cargo plus tare.
• Mon 15:30, forwarder system: the VGM and booking 2HNSA48112 go to the carrier, and the terminal's draft bay plan places the box at cell 0340486, bay 034, row 04, tier 86, a high deck tier suited to a light container.
• Tue 06:10, terminal gate: the terminal's weighbridge records 26,310 kg against a declared 22,490 kg, a 17% gap; the box is held, and the shipper is asked for a corrected VGM.
• Tue 11:45, re-plan: the corrected VGM arrives and the planner moves the container to cell 0340482, the first deck tier; two boxes already planned for tier 82 are re-planned, and the loading sequence is reissued to the crane.
• Wed 02:20, final bay plan: the post-loading BAPLIE carries MEA+AAE+VGM+KGM:26310 at cell 0340482, the carrier files its CBP stow plan within 48 hours of departure, and the forwarder receives a re-planning charge.

The controlled version stops the error at 10:05. A portal rule rejects any VGM lower than the cargo weight plus the container's tare from the equipment master, and the clerk sees the problem before submission. The rule needs only two fields the forwarder already holds and would have saved the costs in the ledger below.

Bay plan checks software enforces and calls a ship planner keeps

Format, code and arithmetic checks on a bay plan are exact and belong in software. Choosing where to stow a heavy or dangerous container, and accepting one with doubtful data, stays with the planner and the master.

Onboarding checklist for a BAPLIE feed into a forwarder or 3PL system

Treat a bay plan feed as a reference data source for tracking and dispute handling, not as an operational instruction. The checklist sets pass conditions for the partner agreement, the parser and the internal rules that use the data.

More EDI and ocean documentation guides are collected on the Logistics and Supply Chain hub. If you need VGM validation, dangerous goods checks or bay plan data built into your forwarding or 3PL platform, share your integration requirements.