The Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) has announced new cargo rates for ships agents, shipping lines and cargo consolidators operating at the Port of Mombasa.
In an advert on Tuesday, November 7, KMA issued this directive to address the prevailing high cost of destination charges at the port of Mombasa and improve on the ease of doing business.
“KMA was tasked to lead resolutions on high cost of destination charges, local repair of damaged containers and abuse of dominance by certain operators.
Four stakeholders’ sessions were convened out of which the following guidelines were agreed upon as the first step towards addressing the cited challenges,” read the advert in parts.
Cargo Fees
The Authority categorized the charges used to compute storage in three scales.
In the first scale, a 20 feet cargo will be charged $10 (Ksh.1,510) for the first ten days while a 40 feet container will attract $20 (Ksh.3,020) during the same period.
Further, in the second scale, a 20 feet cargo will cost $15(Ksh.2,265) while a 40 feet container will attract a demurrage of $30(Ksh.4,530) from the 8th to the 14th day.
Additionally, a 20 feet cargo will be charged $30(Ksh.4,530) while a 40 feet container will attract $ 60(Ksh.9,060) after 21 days under the third scale.
Also, KMA announced the demurrage rates for container deposits which will be refunded within a maximum of five days upon return of an empty container in good condition.
A 20 feet Dry Local container will be charged $500(Ksh.75,500) while a 40 feet cargo container will attract $700 (Ksh.105,700).
On the other hand, a Transit Dry will cost $1,000 while 40 feet will be charged $1,500 (Ksh.226,500).
In addition, a 20 feet OOG and Reefer will cost $2,500 while 40 feet under the same category will be charged $5,000 (Ksh.750,00).
Mombasa Port Cut Charges
Besides, KMA directed that Terminal Handling Charge (THC) as an item raised as a destination charge to be stopped with immediate effect.
The, the Authority stated that the recovery of all Kenya Porst Authority (KPA) services settled by ships agents to be factored in the ocean freight.
“International Ship and Port Facilities Security (ISPS) Code raised as a destination charge to be stopped with immediate effect and if necessary, be incorporated as part of the ocean freight,” said KMA.
Furthermore, KMA ordered that Manifest Amendment Fee to be capped at a maximum of $30 inclusive of KRA penalty.
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Also, the Authority stopped the collection of eleven destination charges arbitrarily raised at the port of Mombasa including X-border fee, Equipment management/monitoring fee, Late documentation fee, Container protection essential, Depot charges at drop-off points, Logistics fee, Import documentation fee, Transit corridor fees, Administration charge, Regional Cost Recovery charge and other charges.
“Free period for discharged containers to be pegged at a minimum of 12 days for local, 30 days for Uganda and 45 days for DRC/South Sudan traffic,” directed KMA.
Again, KMA commanded that Delivery Order Fees be capped at $40 (Ksh.6,040) and measures to be put in put in place by Kentrade, Ships Agents, KPA and Container Freight Stations to enable online receipt of Delivery Orders by Clearing Agents.
Other Reduced Charges
Ships agents were directed to raise invoices within 2 hours upon receipt of a complete set of documents and issue Delivery Orders within 4 hours after payment.
Also, KMA said delays in excess of 24 hours to be recouped by extending the free period by the same duration.
“Revolving deposits for containers to be capped at $7000 (Ksh.1,057,000). Where a clearing agent has a revolving facility with a Shipping Line, no extra deposit (top ups) will be required, volume notwithstanding,” explained the Authority.
1.Any instruction to drop an empty container in port or a different location from the one indicated on the container guarantee form to be compensated for the associated extra transfer cost and the loss of business opportunity.
2.Shipping Lines/Agents to adopt insurance/bank guarantees and Serenity Options instead of the current cash/revolving deposits.
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3.Empty containers to be returned fully certified as clean by the receiving depot and cleaning charges, raised by the receiving empty depot to apply only to dirty containers, jointly inspected and verified by the clearing agent and the receiving depot.
4.Ships agents to indicate validity of free period and existence of a revolving deposit on the container guarantee form to enable depots to receive empty containers on a 24/7-hour basis without confirmation delays especially during non-working hours.
5.Ships Agents extend working hours at the administration offices to 1600hrs on Saturdays to minimize delay penalties during the weekends.
6.Minor container damages to be repaired locally and certificate issued to the parties, while major container damage to be subjected to joint verification and repaired by those meeting the respective ISO standards.
