Shipping companies impose surcharge, port jammed

Some shipping companies have decided to impose a surcharge on its customers, with the jammed Male’ Commercial Harbor racking up costs for the companies.

Lack of necessary machinery with Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) to clear Male’ Commercial Harbor has led to congestion.

CEO of MPL, Mohamed Junaid reported last week that many of the machinery used by the company such as cranes and forklifts were out-of-order leading to massive delays in clearance.

As a result, ships now need to stay docked in the port for days at end as the clearance is done.

Junaid, as well as other senior officials from MPL met with heads of shipping companies this Sunday. Details of what was discussed during the meeting is unclear at the moment.

Some shipping companies have introduced a port congestion surcharge in an effort to stem the rising expenses.

Lily Shipping and Trading issued a statement this Sunday, in which the company said it would be taking a port congestion surcharge from its customers, starting November 1.

“Our service schedule and Port operations are both heavily disturbed, causing huge delays at Male’ Port, which also results in massive increase of container Port storage charges and significant financial loss,” read the statement.

The above charges will be levied on all import/export containers carried by by us, with effect from 1st November 2016 as attached circular; pic.twitter.com/mdyUh5qn5H

— Lily Shipping (@LilyShipTrading) October 23, 2016