Emirates Shipping Reduces Indian Port Congestion Fee

Emirates Shipping Line reduced the port congestion surcharges the carrier has imposed on containers shipping through India’s Port of Chennai for the last two months.

Effective immediately, ESL’s revised surcharge is $75 per 20-foot equivalent unit on all laden boxes moving to and from the Chennai terminals.

The Middle East-based carrier originally set the fee at $65 per TEU as of Sept. 1, and then increased the fee to $150 per TEU from Sept. 28 and to $210 per TEU from Nov. 4, as port conditions worsened at India’s second-largest container gateway.

ESL’s move comes as the port authority called on mainline and feeder operators to lift their “Chennai trade recovery surcharges” given the improved yard inventory situation. As of Monday, the terminal yard inventory held about 12,000 TEUs, compared with an average level of 8,000 to 19,000 TEUs during August to October.