Shipping companies at Senari Port cease to impose congestion surcharges on consignees

File photo showing Senari Port Terminal.

KUCHING (Apr 27): Shipping companies with operations at Senari Port Terminal here had ceased to impose congestion surcharges on consignees with immediate effect, said Kuching Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCGCCI).

In a statement yesterday, the chamber said Kuching Port Authority (KPA) had given its assurance that the services at Senari Port Terminal would be regularised by the end of the month.

“It is given to understand that the operational costs of shipping companies have escalated due to the ongoing congestion at Senari Port Terminal.

“This situation was triggered by the computer outage that struck KPA recently, which had caused significant delay to the turnaround time of vessels and also the delivery of containers,” said KCGCCI.

This agreement was reached at during a roundtable meeting yesterday, chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing who is also the Minister of Infrastructure and Ports Development.

It was also attended by Assistant Minister of Infrastructure and Ports Development Datuk Julaihi Narawi and officers from the ministry, as well as representatives of KPA, KCGCCI, the shipping companies and forwarding agencies.

Adding on, KCGCCI viewed that it was ‘grossly unfair’ for shipping companies to pass on their perceived losses to port-users and the business community at large, who bore no responsibility for the delay in the containers’ delivery or the congestion affecting the port.

As a way forward, Masing had outlined during yesterday’s meeting that KPA would rectify the ‘computer system outage’ incident and acquire a harbour crane, using own funding, in the immediate term.

“The KPA would further acquire more quay cranes and gantry cranes, and enhance its container terminal management system to uplift the efficiency of port services in the medium and the longer terms,” said the chamber.

In this regard, the KCGCCI thanked the state government for the ‘timely intervention’.

It was previously reported that many consignees in Kota Sentosa areas had received notifications from shipping companies that they would be charging the ‘port emergency congestion’ surcharges of RM310 and RM620 for every 20-feet container and 40-feet container, respectively.

The post Shipping companies at Senari Port cease to impose congestion surcharges on consignees appeared first on Borneo Post Online.

from Borneo Post Online https://ift.tt/3nmUGXI
via IFTTT