SSA Marine has announced the introduction of an Extended Dwell Time Fee for Terminals 18, 5 and 30 in the Port of Seattle aiming to reduce a container backlog at the port.
This fee is effective from December 1, 2021, and is levied on import containers that have exceeded 5 calendar days on the terminal.
Following the five day free time threshold, shippers will face a $50 per day charge for the next five days of storage thereafter; raising to $75 per day six to 10 days after the free time.
The fee will again rise to $100 per day for the following five days (11-15 days after free time) and up to $150 per day there after, some 16+ days after the free time limit.
The terminal notice announced, “The importer of record in the shipping documents will be responsible for paying or arranging payment of the Extended Dwell Time Fee by check, money order, wire transfer, or any other methods, and pursuant to instructions provided by Operator through the Forecast website.
“Once the fee has been paid, the container will show as available in Operator’s container tracking system. Appointments on import lanes may not be made until the fee has been paid and the container is showing as available on the Forecast web site.”
Seattle is currently reeling from ongoing congestion: just yesterday Maersk reported that the Port of Seattle is experiencing a 21-day average waiting time for vessels queuing to berth.
Elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, on 3 November the Husky terminal at the Port of Tacoma has introduced a rehandling charge for long-stay containers to clear congestion, notying that local import dwell on the terminal has grown significantly in recent months
Further south, the congested ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have decided to delay enforcing an import container dwell fee on customers until 29 November.
