The San Pedro Bay Ports have announced that they will again delay consideration of the Container Dwell Fee – which aims to charge ocean carriers for long-dwelling containers – until 22 November 2021.
The charge has been postponed due to an encouraging decline in long-dwelling cargo on the docks of the ports. Since the fee was initially announced on 25 October 2021, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have been seen a decline of 26% in combined ageing cargo.
“We’re encouraged by the progress our supply chain partners have made in helping our terminals shed long-dwelling import containers. Clearly, everyone is working together to speed the movement of cargo and reduce the backlog of ships off the coast as quickly as possible,” said Mario Cordero, Executive Director for the Port of Long Beach.
“Postponing consideration of the fee provides more time while keeping the focus on the results we need.”
Gene Seroka, Executive Director for the Port of Los Angeles added “There’s been significant improvement in clearing import containers from our docks in recent weeks. I’m grateful to the many nodes of the supply chain, from shipping lines, marine terminals, trucks, and cargo owners, for their increased collaborative efforts. We will continue to closely monitor the data as we approach 22 November.”
The policy will see ocean carriers be charged for each container that falls into one of two categories.
For containers scheduled to move by truck, ocean carriers will be charged for every container dwelling for nine days or more. Alternatively, for containers moving by rail, ocean carriers will be charged if the container has dwelled for three days or more.
Carriers with cargo in either of those two categories will be charged $100 per container, increasing in $100 increments per container per day.
While ageing cargo numbers at the ports may be improving, vessels waiting in the waters outside of the ports are on the rise again as a social media post from Shipping Analyst Lars Jensen noted some 82 vessels were waiting to berth on 15 November 2021.
