ANERA postpones port surcharges
JAKARTA (JP): The Asia North America Eastbound Rate Agreement (ANERA) group of shipping lines announced over the weekend that it will postpone until Oct. 1 its threat to impose congestion surcharges on users of its services at the Tanjung Priok port.
Chairman of ANERA, James T.Y. Chen, was quoted by Bisnis Indonesia daily as saying that the suspension was made following what ANERA members considered improvements in the port's services and facilities.
ANERA threatened last month to impose a "Jakarta Port Congestion Surcharge" which required ship users to pay US$100 for a container measuring 20 feet and $200 for 40 feet and above.
The threat to impose congestion surcharges came after port users criticized the port's poor management, heavy red tape and lack of coordination in cargo-handling procedures, all of which led to a prolonged waiting time of ships and additional financial losses.
Overseas importers also complained of the poor services and went as far as threatening to seek alternative ports to ship their goods to.
Initially, ANERA's congestion surcharge at the port was planned to be imposed starting on July 15, but the group, which conducts shipments from Jakarta to the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, decided to "wait and see" what the results of the efficiency program by the port's management company, the state- owned PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II, promised.
The efficiency program includes a simplification of documentation procedures and the construction of infrastructure facilities, such as berthing docks and shipping cranes.
ANERA consists of the American President Line, Ltd., Hapag- Lloyd A.G., Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K-Line), Ltd., A.P. Moller- Maersk Line, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., Nedlloyd Linjen B.V., Neptune Orient Lines, Ltd., Nippon Yusen Kaisha (N.Y.K.), Orient Overseas Container Line, Inc. and Sea-Land Service, Inc.
Chen said that other shipping lines grouped in the Intra-Asia Discussion Agreement forum, which consists of 44 lines serving the Asia-Pacific region, have also resolved to postpone their threat to impose congestion surcharges until Nov. 1.
Theft
In spite of the port's improved services, Chen said there have recently been increased reports of theft of the contents of containers, to be both imported and exported, and cases of broken container seals.
He said that although the amount of stolen goods were relatively small -- occurring to only one to two percent of the containers' contents -- the issue was a serious blow to importers and exporters.
Similar cases, which occurred at Guatemala's port, Chen cited, have lead ANERA to impose container security surcharges.
Tanjung Priok port currently serves 70 percent of the country's import and export activities.
Over the last five years, the number of conventional and container vessels using the port has increased by an average of six percent per annum. Last year, the figure stood at 12,733 units.
Cargo handling also increased by 12 percent over the same period, with 26.8 million tons recorded last year. (pwn)