The Hindu Business Line : Congestion surcharge imposed at CCT

The Chennai Feeder Operators, operating container feeder services from and to Chennai, have implemented a congestion surcharge of $30 a TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) from Saturday at the Chennai Container Terminal (CCT).

Due to the deteriorating port stay situation at CCT, the operators were forced to recover additional costs through the surcharge, which would be applicable for all loading/discharging containers at the port from today. The surcharge would be levied till port turnaround returns to normalcy, the operators said in a notice to the trade.

The delay follows a decision last week by about 70 CCT workers joining hands with a labour union in supporting the reinstatement of seven dismissed workers.

The private terminal operator brought in around 25 workers from its group terminals, including Nhava Sheva, to counter obstruction by workers.

Despite this, the productivity level at the terminal dropped to 18-20 moves an hour in the last three-four days compared to 25-30 during normalcy, said the CEO of CCT, Mr Ennarasu Karunesan.

"We are doing our best to find an amicable solution. The demands of the workers were unjustified," he told Business Line.

An official of a shipping line said in the last few days, container vessels had to wait for more than three days to get a berth. This is compared to normal situation when the ships were berthed in 24-36 hours. "We need to recover the losses due to the extra days of stay in the port," he said.

However, others, including Customs and forwarding agents and consignees, do not agree with the shipping lines. "It is very unfair to implement the surcharge. This will put enormous pressure on CCT to reinstate the workers, and solve the problem in the short term. There is no guarantee that the same set of workers would not create a problem again."

The lines implementing the surcharge are Advance Container Lines, Bengal Tiger Line, RCL Feeder, Samudera Shipping, Sea Consortium and Simatech Shipping.