Kooragang terminal in Newcastle has upgraded its capacity on the land to be able to receive 77 million tonnes per annum, but there has been no expansion of the ship loading capacity. Therefore it has been decided that those vessels that cannot receive the required load per hour will simply not be received at the terminal.
“It appears that Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) and coal exporters in Newcastle have decided that the best way to reduce the vessel queue off the port is simply to refuse to load those vessels that do not meet their new loading capacity requirements,” remarked Llew Russell, CEO of Shipping Australia.
This affects fifty vessels currently waiting at the port, and another twenty vessels have been identified as only suitable for loading at the Carrington terminal.
According to Russell, these new rules will become effective on June 7th.
Russell agreed that certain vessels could do more to assist in improving the coal loading rate, but this takes time and it was commercially naïve to suggest that this could be addressed by June 7th.
“I am sure our members will be examining their capacity for legal redress, as many of these vessels would have issued Notices of Readiness (to load) and been accepted in the queue by PWCS,” said Russell. “PWCS invited customers with ongoing contracts for the unsuitable vessels to discuss transition arrangements, but it is very difficult to see how that could be achieved in the short timeframe.”
Russell questioned whether vessels will have to be built for only short-term use, e,g, in five years’ time there could be completely new loading rates that make many of the existing vessels unsuitable. “The costs on the traders for that sort of approach is going to be tremendous, and will only make Australia uncompetitive in terms of sourcing coal.”
Russell noted that the proposed action by the coal terminal company can only add weight to the Federal Government’s threat to nationally regulate significant export ports.
Shipping Australia is urging PWCS to urgently reconsider its decision and provide a reasonable transition period that will meet the interests of all parties.
“It appears that Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) and coal exporters in Newcastle have decided that the best way to reduce the vessel queue off the port is simply to refuse to load those vessels that do not meet their new loading capacity requirements,” remarked Llew Russell, CEO of Shipping Australia.
This affects fifty vessels currently waiting at the port, and another twenty vessels have been identified as only suitable for loading at the Carrington terminal.
According to Russell, these new rules will become effective on June 7th.
Russell agreed that certain vessels could do more to assist in improving the coal loading rate, but this takes time and it was commercially naïve to suggest that this could be addressed by June 7th.
“I am sure our members will be examining their capacity for legal redress, as many of these vessels would have issued Notices of Readiness (to load) and been accepted in the queue by PWCS,” said Russell. “PWCS invited customers with ongoing contracts for the unsuitable vessels to discuss transition arrangements, but it is very difficult to see how that could be achieved in the short timeframe.”
Russell questioned whether vessels will have to be built for only short-term use, e,g, in five years’ time there could be completely new loading rates that make many of the existing vessels unsuitable. “The costs on the traders for that sort of approach is going to be tremendous, and will only make Australia uncompetitive in terms of sourcing coal.”
Russell noted that the proposed action by the coal terminal company can only add weight to the Federal Government’s threat to nationally regulate significant export ports.
Shipping Australia is urging PWCS to urgently reconsider its decision and provide a reasonable transition period that will meet the interests of all parties.