Increases in port charges at North Sea Port below inflation once again in 2020
Ships docking in North Sea Port must pay a fee to do so. For 2020, there will be a limited increase in these port charges: for the second year in a row, the rise will be around 25% lower than expected inflation (end 2019), North Sea Port says in a press release.
For Vlissingen and Terneuzen, the rates will increase by 2% and for Ghent by 0.6%. In 2019 the ratio was exactly the reverse.
In future, inland navigation vessels putting in at both the Zeelandic and Ghent parts of North Sea Port will only pay once. Until now, they had to pay twice: once for Vlissingen and Terneuzen and again for Ghent. This therefore represents a price reduction of 50%. North Sea Port has been applying this principle to seagoing vessels since last year.
In addition, from 2020 the environmental discounts for cleaner seagoing vessels - the ESI discount - will be made uniform and further extended for the entire cross-border port zone.
A change for 2020 is that inland navigation vessels that frequently put in at North Sea Port will be able to apply for their subscription to visit the port digitally via the website of North Sea Port.
At the start of the merger two years ago, North Sea Port stated that companies would also benefit from the change. With these measures relating to port charges – limited price increases, discounts for journeys taking in both national constituents of the port for inland navigation and seagoing vessels, equivalent and extensive environmental discounts for seagoing vessels – North Sea Port is making good on that promise.
The intention is to have a single rate schedule for the entire cross-border area of North Sea Port from 2021, instead of the current two. The further harmonisation of port charges for docking in North Sea Port will serve to increase our customer-friendliness even more. All seagoing or inland navigation vessels docking at North Sea Port and using port infrastructure or services (such as shore power, drinking water, jetties) must pay port charges to the port authority. North Sea Port uses this income to increase the accessibility of the port and build and maintain infrastructure.