A Ministry of Transport investigation being conducted to resolve problems with new shipping surcharges imposed by international ship owners is due to be completed before the end of the month.

Ngo Hai Hang, chief executive officer of Bee Logistics, told the Daily that since end-March foreign ship owners including Gold Star Line, Hanjin, Evergreen, Wanhai and OOCL had imposed Emergency Bunker Surcharges (EBS).

Together with EBS, Hanjin has imposed the Container Imbalance Charge (CIC) for all shipments to Asian destinations including China, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.

Now all shipments have to pay US$30 per 20-foot container and double that for a 40-foot container for the EBS. And shipments have to pay the same fees for the CIC.

According to Hang, ship owners have imposed these charges for fears that political tension in oil producing countries, especially in Libya, will lead to a hike in oil prices.

“Currently, some ship owners are also charging shipments with the Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF) fee, which applies to normal and air-conditioning containers. This fee is adjusted monthly to fit the global situation, especially oil prices. This means exporters have to bear double charges at the same time,” Hang said.

Since 2008, economic downturn has brought about unstable oil prices and currency market. In the meantime, ship owners have established the Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF) and the Currency Adjustment Factor (CAF) to protect their business. Those fees still remain in the bills of logistics services providers, Hang said.

One furniture exporter in Binh Duong Province said his shipment to a buyer in Singapore used to cost only US$15 per 20-foot container and now he has to pay US$30 of EBS, which means a 200% hike to US$45 per 20-foot container for the same goods and the same distance.

“In addition, we have to pay port owners in HCMC a charge called ‘transport blockage charge’ and many other fees,” he said.

In March, the Government Office sent out a document asking the Ministry of Transport to cooperate with the related ministry and organizations to establish a special delegation to investigate, collect evidence and suggest a solution on the over-charging by ship owners. The probe is due to be completed by the end of this month.

In the meantime, another delegation, headed by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in collaboration with the Vietnam Shippers’ Council, in March jointed the Asian Shippers’ Council to hold negotiations with international ship owners to help remove the unreasonable fees and surcharges for exporters.

Phan Thong, secretary general of the Vietnam Shippers’ Council, told the Daily the process will complete by the end of April before a report is sent to the Prime Minister.

Source: SGT