Mumbai, March 10 Container terminal operators at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port will provide a 100 per cent waiver on ground rent/dwell time charges for containers bound for the Middle East that are stranded at the facility for up to 15 days, in response to disruptions caused by the ongoing conflict in West Asia, JNPA said on Tuesday.
In addition, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) said that these operators will also waive 80 per cent of reefer plug-in charges for up to 15 days.
The waiver on storage/dwell time charges and reefer plug-in charges for export containers bound for the Middle East that are stranded in the port area is due to geopolitical disturbances in the Middle East, and in order to mitigate the hardships faced by port users due to these developments, JNPA said.
These concessions come days after the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for major port operators in the country amid the West Asia crisis, and also asked them to consider waivers on various charges at the ports to mitigate the impact of disruptions.
"All terminal operators will provide a 100 per cent waiver on ground rent/dwell time charges up to 15 days (from 0000 hours on February 28 up to 24 hours on March 14 for containers that were arriving at the terminals from February 28 or those that had entered the port by 7 am on March 8)," JNPA said in the trade notice.
The port has five container terminals – Nhava Sheva Free Port Terminal (NSFT), Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT), Nhava Sheva India Gateway Terminal (NSIGT), Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal (BMCT), and GTI-APM Terminal (APM).
These terminals are operated by a mix of global port operators, including DP World, PSA International, APM Terminals, and JM Baxi.
JNPA also said that these operators will also waive 80 per cent of the reefer plug-in charges up to 15 days (from 00.00 hours on February 28 till 24 hours on March 14 for stranded reefer containers carrying perishable goods, that were arriving at the terminals from February 28 or those that had entered the port by 7 am on March 8.
In the notice, JNPA also directed shipping companies, non-vessel operating common carriers, and freight forwarders to ensure that these benefits are passed on to the actual exporters.
JNPA and the terminals are in constant consultation with customs authorities to facilitate the storage of laden containers from other ports destined for the Middle East, as temporary transshipment cargo at the five terminals, the port authorities said.
It also said that the port is providing additional storage area to the terminals for stacking such additional cargo, among several other measures.