Stevedores embrace voluntary guidelines

AUSTRALIA’s stevedores appear to be heeding the implicit warning in the National Transport Commission’s voluntary guidelines for landside charges, given today’s [2 November] deadline for planned 1 January 2027changes.

While the guidelines remain voluntary, to the chagrin of many, stevedores are well aware the ACCC and other bodies are undertaking deep dives into the validity and application of the charges and will be anxious to wardoff anything more punitive or prescriptive.

Melbourne’s VICT was first off-the-mark today, releasing ‘revisions’ to VBS charges, landside and storage tariffs, late receival fees and maritime security fees that will apply in the New Year.

Flinders Adelaide Container Terminal is also releasing theirs today, Patrick’s are expected tonight and Hutchison Port Australia’s within days. At time of writing there was no indication of DP World’s timeline.

Scrutinising VICT’s notifications CTAA’s Neil Chambers told DCN the company’s ‘revisions’ (increases) are anywhere from 5% to almost 35%: the infrastructure surcharge is up 12% from last year, and the normal VBS slot fee is up 16.67%.

“This is well above CPI, and VICT have literally listed again (with no detail of allocation of cost increases toquayside as well as landside fees) the same capital expenditure items that they included last year:

• four new hybrid auto straddle carriers

• IT system upgrades and implementation of yard optimisation systems

• one new neo-Panamax ship-to-shore crane•

• two new yard blocks

• four new automated stacking cranes

“Surely, VICT should indicate whether their shipping line customers are going to bear the burden of increasedquayside fees to compensate for a component of these capital works, particularly the new neo-Panamax STS crane?

“Another reason why CTAA is seeking regulatory intervention and an increase in transparency of what all commercial parties are paying for terminal services," Mr Chambers said.