Shipping Line Announces: Starting December 1, Another Major West Coast Port Will Charge an “Excess Dwell Fee” for Containers…

The Port of Seattle will charge this fee for containers unloaded at Terminals 5, 18, and 30.

Hapag-Lloyd announced on November 25 that the Port of Seattle will charge an “Extended Dwell Time Fee” for containers unloaded at Terminals 5, 18, and 30. Empty containers and full export containers will be exempt from the fee.

The fee takes effect on December 1, 2021, and applies to import containers that remain at the terminal for more than 5 days. The specific rates are as follows:

• There is a 5-day free period after the container becomes available for pickup; 
• For the 1st-5th days after the free period, a fee of $50 per container per day applies;
• For the 6th-10th days, a fee of $75 per container per day applies;
• For the 11th-15th days, a fee of $100 per container per day applies;
• For 16 days or more, a fee of $150 per container per day applies.

In addition, the new “Extended Dwell Time Fee” will be charged on top of the standard dwell fees.
Hapag-Lloyd has reminded customers that leaving containers at the affected terminals without picking them up promptly will result in the “Extended Dwell Time Fee.”

According to a Port of Seattle announcement, the reason for introducing the “Extended Dwell Time Fee” is the same as that behind similar dwell fees charged by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on the U.S. West Coast: cargo owners’ failure to pick up containers promptly has caused severe congestion at port terminals and increased storage costs, putting pressure on terminal operators and making it difficult for them to carry out related operations.
The Port of Seattle said it hopes the fee will encourage cargo owners to pick up their containers as soon as possible and speed up container flow through the terminals.
According to the Port of Seattle, the fee will be discontinued once terminal congestion improves and related operations return to normal.

In recent months, the U.S. supply chain crisis has intensified, severely affecting ports. Operations at West Coast ports in particular have become less efficient, while vessel delays and congestion have worsened.
To speed up container flow and ease the current supply chain crisis, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach were the first to announce in October that they would charge shipping lines a “Container Excess Dwell Fee.”

However, the start date for the fee has been postponed repeatedly, from November 15 to November 22, and then from November 22 to November 29.
Regarding the reason for the postponements, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach said that since announcing the fee policy on October 25, the number of containers dwelling at the two ports had fallen by 33%. The ports said they were pleased with this progress, but would continue to monitor the time import containers spend at the terminals on a daily basis.
Shipping lines, however, have prepared for the fee. COSCO Shipping Lines, ONE, Hapag-Lloyd, HMM, and others have responded to the new charges at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and announced their specific fee arrangements.

Original article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/kXoNI5bjBQIuqIh8hSD10g