ONE introduces congestion surcharge in Chinese port

Ocean Network Express (ONE) has applied a congestion surcharge (CS) of US$1300/container at Tianjin’s Xingang port in northern China, which faces a serious shortage of available reefer plugs due to the slow inbound reefer container pick-up activity caused by tougher customs inspections.

The surcharge implementation will help ONE to cover additional costs related to the unexpected but necessary arrangement of shipments and associated plug-in charges and monitoring fees.

ONE said it may need to adjust the original transportation plan for reefer shipments to Xingang port, which may result in an extended period of storage for inbound reefers at transhipment ports or the discharge of reefer containers at an alternative port without prior notice.

In an effort to minimise loss and inconvenience, wherever operationally feasible, ONE shall endeavor to arrange onward transportation from the alternative discharge port to the originally intended destination subject to reefer plug availability, according to a statement.

Additionally, the Singaporean shipping line will encourage customers to consider a change of destination to other alternative ports, especially for time-sensitive cargoes such as fresh, chilled commodities.

In cases where a change of destination (COD) is requested to discharge inbound reefers from Tianjin/Xingang to alternative ports, CS and COD administration fees can be waived.

This measure is effective immediately for all reefer cargo arriving into Xingang from 24 November 2020 onwards, and for regulated trades, the effective date will be 23 December 2020 until further notice.

Source: Container News