Shipping lines are pressing the UK government to drop plans for increases of up to 67 percent in light dues paid by vessels calling at British ports.
Carriers say the largest vessels would pay as much as $29,000 for each voyage and some ships would stop serving UK ports.
Light dues cover the cost of maintaining lighthouses and other navigational aids in UK and Irish waters.
Most other European Union coastal states do not charge ships for navigational aids.
French container line CMA CGM said its annual bill will increase by $2.2 million. Grimaldi, the Italian short sea carrier which owns transatlantic container line ACL, estimates it will pay an extra $1.35 million and Scandinavian car carrier Wallenius Wilhelmsen faces a $430,000 increase.
Carriers say higher charges, at a time of a deepening recession in shipping markets, likely will lead to some ships avoiding UK ports and diverting cargo to continental Europe. Grimaldi has said it might cut the number of UK port calls if the increases go ahead.
Ship-owners and port authorities are meeting UK shipping minister Jim Fitzpatrick March 26 in a bid to head off the planned increases.
Shipping lines are angry they have to pay for the upkeep of Irish lighthouses even if they do not call at Irish ports.
The General Lighthouse Fund, which collects the dues, faces a deficit of $23 million, partly caused by the increased cost of maintaining Irish lights because the pound has fallen in value against the euro.
"Eighty years since the Irish Free State received its independence, we are still subsidizing their lighthouses and navigational aids," Julian Brazier, the opposition Conservative Party's "shadow" transport minister, said.
The UK is paying 65 percent of Ireland's lighthouse budget, Brazier said.
Carriers say the largest vessels would pay as much as $29,000 for each voyage and some ships would stop serving UK ports.
Light dues cover the cost of maintaining lighthouses and other navigational aids in UK and Irish waters.
Most other European Union coastal states do not charge ships for navigational aids.
French container line CMA CGM said its annual bill will increase by $2.2 million. Grimaldi, the Italian short sea carrier which owns transatlantic container line ACL, estimates it will pay an extra $1.35 million and Scandinavian car carrier Wallenius Wilhelmsen faces a $430,000 increase.
Carriers say higher charges, at a time of a deepening recession in shipping markets, likely will lead to some ships avoiding UK ports and diverting cargo to continental Europe. Grimaldi has said it might cut the number of UK port calls if the increases go ahead.
Ship-owners and port authorities are meeting UK shipping minister Jim Fitzpatrick March 26 in a bid to head off the planned increases.
Shipping lines are angry they have to pay for the upkeep of Irish lighthouses even if they do not call at Irish ports.
The General Lighthouse Fund, which collects the dues, faces a deficit of $23 million, partly caused by the increased cost of maintaining Irish lights because the pound has fallen in value against the euro.
"Eighty years since the Irish Free State received its independence, we are still subsidizing their lighthouses and navigational aids," Julian Brazier, the opposition Conservative Party's "shadow" transport minister, said.
The UK is paying 65 percent of Ireland's lighthouse budget, Brazier said.