Maersk Sealand, a leading shipping line, carrying exports destined for Europe and the US from Port Qasim, has slapped late delivery charges from Nov. 15.
A notice, sent to the exporters, has said that late pick up fee on delivery orders or taking delivery after 15 days of the arrival will be Rs 5,000, and for taking delivery after 30 days will be Rs 10,000.
These charges would be applied to all freight on board (FoB) shipments, it said.
Similarly, the late delivery charges for all cost and freight (C&F) shipments would be Rs 1,200 for taking delivery after 15 days of arrivals.
The shipping line also reminded its clients that they also had to pay a security surcharge at the rate of five dollars per container effective from Sept. 10, and inland fuel surcharge at the rate of 30 dollars per container effective from October 17.
No reason has been given for imposing late delivery charges of the goods from Qasim International Container Terminal (QICT) to eliminate congestion at the container yard and clear the backlog of the cargo accumulated for several weeks.
The QICT management is in the process of renovating its container yard to expand its capacity to accommodate increasing cargo. For the purpose, it has shifted its Customs Examination area to the back of building.
It may be pointed out that the volume of cargo handled at the terminal has increased manifold and the management is acquiring more gantry cranes and rubber tyred cranes (RTG) to increase its handling capacity.