Middle East carrier Emirates Shipping Line increased its port congestion surcharges on ocean containers moving through India’s Port of Chennai.
Effective immediately, ESL’s revised surcharges are $75 per 20-foot container on Chennai-Colombo cargo and $150 per 20-foot container on Chennai-Singapore-Port Kelang trades, up from a flat $65 per-TEU levied as of Sept. 1.
Chennai, India’s second-largest container gateway, has been plagued over the past three months by serious delays caused by terminal congestion amid surging traffic volume and persistent labor unrest.
To help alleviate port clogging problems, the port-terminal authority last week temporarily suspended export cargo movements for four days and scaled back vessel handling for two days. Container traffic through the Chennai terminals surged 26 percent year-over-year to a record 1.52 million TEUs in fiscal 2010-11 ended March 31.
The Journal of Commerce Online