Rotterdam Cuts Harbor Dues

The port of Rotterdam said it will give ocean ships and inland river barges a 7 percent "once-only crisis rebate" on harbor dues in 2010, the first reduction in tariffs in over 20 years.

"On balance, the sea and inland harbor dues will go down [by] 5 percent in 2010," the Port Authority said, noting that it had already agreed to raise rates by 2 percent next year.

"I think we have been able to find a good balance between the present difficult position of the customers and the long term investment needs of the port authority," said Port Authority CEO Hans Smits.

"The economic recession played an important role in the determination of the reduction as well as the competitive positions within the Le Havre-Hamburg [port] range," the Authority said.

The Authority said quay fees next year will be frozen at 2009 levels and ship and barge dues will increase by 1 percent in 2011.

Rotterdam, Europe's biggest port, collected $413 million in harbor dues in 2008.

The 2010 rebate, following a 1 percent increase in 2009, will put pressure on rival ports, particularly neighboring Antwerp, to follow suit in competition for container and break bulk traffic.

Rotterdam's container traffic fell 13 percent in the first nine months of 2009 from a year ago to 7.2 million 20-foot equivalent units and total cargo volume shrunk 11.9 percent to 283 million metric tons.

The Port Authority's net income declined 9 percent in the first half of 2009 to around $110 million largely due to the drop in the number of ship calls to 16,655 from 18,223 in the same period in 2008.

Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.