Hapag-Lloyd said Wednesday it will apply emergency congestion surcharges on all containerized cargo moving through India’s Port of Chennai.
The planned surcharges will be $50 per 20-foot equivalent unit on export shipments and $65 per TEU on import consignments.
The surcharges will take effect Jan. 23 on intra-Asia trade and Feb. 9 on all other trade lanes.
Chennai, India’s second-largest container gateway, has been plagued over the past two months by unprecedented delays caused by terminal congestion amid surging volume and trucking problems.
The terminal yard inventory held nearly 17,000 TEUs, mostly imports, as of Wednesday morning, according to the port.
A DP World Chennai official said terminal management initiated several proactive steps, including round-the-clock gate operations for laden import movements, to help speed cargo evacuation.
“We are coordinating with Customs to obtain permission for “on-wheel” inspection of import containers at our storage yard, which will enable importers to directly place their trucks to move containers to our yard for examination,” he said.
“If the situation does not improve by early next week, export bookings would be completely stopped from Jan. 17. If it worsens further, load ports would be sounded an alarm over imports by respective shipping lines,” a representative of the Chennai Steamer Agents’ Association said.
The disruptions at Chennai primarily followed a mid-November strike by truckers that lasted four days, creating a huge import backlog.
Chennai, with its two terminals managed by DP World and PSA International, handled 1.12 million TEUs from April through December, growing 26 percent year-over-year.
The planned surcharges will be $50 per 20-foot equivalent unit on export shipments and $65 per TEU on import consignments.
The surcharges will take effect Jan. 23 on intra-Asia trade and Feb. 9 on all other trade lanes.
Chennai, India’s second-largest container gateway, has been plagued over the past two months by unprecedented delays caused by terminal congestion amid surging volume and trucking problems.
The terminal yard inventory held nearly 17,000 TEUs, mostly imports, as of Wednesday morning, according to the port.
A DP World Chennai official said terminal management initiated several proactive steps, including round-the-clock gate operations for laden import movements, to help speed cargo evacuation.
“We are coordinating with Customs to obtain permission for “on-wheel” inspection of import containers at our storage yard, which will enable importers to directly place their trucks to move containers to our yard for examination,” he said.
“If the situation does not improve by early next week, export bookings would be completely stopped from Jan. 17. If it worsens further, load ports would be sounded an alarm over imports by respective shipping lines,” a representative of the Chennai Steamer Agents’ Association said.
The disruptions at Chennai primarily followed a mid-November strike by truckers that lasted four days, creating a huge import backlog.
Chennai, with its two terminals managed by DP World and PSA International, handled 1.12 million TEUs from April through December, growing 26 percent year-over-year.