After the USA continued to push ahead with its special fee for “China ships”, the People’s Republic responded with countermeasures – and may even be successful.
China’s expanded retaliatory port fees on US-linked companies could mean as much as US$2.3 billion in costs for affected container ship owners and operators, including Navios Corporation and ZIM, according to consultancy Linerlytica.
China’s Ministry of Transport announced on 10 October that Special Port Fees will be imposed on ships calling at Chinese ports that are owned or operated by companies with at least 25% ownership by US interests. The fees will be charged at CNY 400 ($56) per net tonne starting from today and will rise progressively by CNY 140 ($20) annually in the next three years.
Chinese-built ships are however, exempted.
The fees are calculated on a per voyage basis and are limited to five annual voyages. These fees imitate the USTR 301 port service fees that the US are imposing on Chinese operators and Chinese built ships, and which also take effect today. In comparison, as COSCO Shipping Lines and Hede Shipping are the only liner operators most affected by the US port fees, the impact on container lines is about US$1.2 billion.
Linerlytica said: “The Special Port Fee, if applied strictly, casts a wider net than initially expected as it would include companies that have over 25% US equity interests that could encompass Zim as well as ships chartered from non-operating owners such as Seaspan, SFL, Navios, Costamare and Global Ship Lease.”
The consultancy added: “The move may trigger significant disruptions as carriers try to shift some of their chartered ships out of Chinese ports or rationalise services in order to minimise the financial impact as average voyage costs will rise by more than US$300 per TEU for the affected ships.”
