One of the most important Scandinavian hubs, Gothenburg, has opted to keep the Port Tariff unchanged for the third year in succession.
The charges for 2018 will thus be on the same level as 2015. Port charges are levied on all vessels that call at the Port of Gothenburg. They ar[ds_preview]e based on vessel type and gross tonnage, and are used to finance a range of activities, including fairway maintenance, traffic information and port safety.
»By not increasing the tariff, we are seeking to boost growth in industry, shipping and port operations. At the same time, we want to be part of the effort to curb rising logistics costs for our stakeholders,« said Magnus Kårestedt, Gothenburg Port Authority Chief Executive. According to Kårestedt, the company has managed to avoid the need for tariff increases through good cost control.
The port executives hope that this will inspire other companies and organisations involved in logistics operations to review their charges. »If we all share the responsibility for making logistics more cost effective, this will prove crucial to our stakeholders’ competitiveness«, Kårestedt said.
Green shipping rewarded
A system is already in place whereby good environmental performance is rewarded with a discount on the port charge at the Port of Gothenburg. Two globally recognised indexes are used as a basis for the discount system, for which one-third of vessels that call at the port are eligible. Vessels that switch to running on liquefied natural gas, LNG, receive a further discount.
»We expect a significant rise next year in calls by vessels running on LNG, and there will be a resulting rise in the number that qualify for our LNG discount. The transition that is taking place is encouraging, and we look forward to welcoming more LNG-powered vessels to the port with a 20 per cent discount per call,« said Magnus Kårestedt.
