Maersk warns of possible St Petersburg congestion charge

DANISH shipping giant Maersk says it is considering a congestion charge now that volumes have grown to the clogging point at Russia`s western Port of St Petersburg,

Maersk said it could no longer determine with certainty which cargo terminal cargo would be landed, reported London`s International Freighting Weekly, because berth waiting times at one terminal made another more attractive on short notice, a situation further aggravated by recent bad weather.


"We are mainly using both Fish Port Terminal and Petrolesport for import and export traffic," said Maersk.


The shipping line said it would try to inform customers in advance of any switch, but cautioned that berth waiting times often dictated on-the-spot decisions to exploit momentary opportunities.


Thus, said Maersk, "we reserve the right to implement, on short notice, emergency storage/demurrage charges at transhipment ports and in St Petersburg to minimise delays due to excessive dwell times at the terminals."


The line also asked customers to help terminal operations with quick pick-ups - and "please be advised that, due to increased costs and waiting times, we reserve the right to implement a congestion surcharge at short notice".