In a boost to shipping companies and their customers, the largest port in the Nordics has announced that port charges for 2016 will be the same as this year’s.
The significance of this is borne out by some statistics: 30% of all Swedish foreign trade passes through the port including 60% of all box traffic with 25 trains arriving and departing daily for destinations in Sweden and Norway.
All ships pay according to their gross weight and classification with revenue going back into fairway maintenance, traffic information systems, safety, and security. Swedish export and import growth has “been modest in recent years, a trend reflected in the flow of goods through PoG” the press release said.
“Our aim behind this move is to reinforce industrial growth, shipping, and the port,” stated PoG managing director Magnus Kårestedt, “Shipping costs become transport costs for industry. By doing our best to keep port charges down, we can contribute to maintaining a strong cluster of shipping companies in Gothenburg and a broad range of services to key markets.”
Kårestedt also took a swipe at government policy when he said, “We also hope other parties in the transport chain do everything to keep costs to a minimum. The state fairway charge, for example, doesn’t exist throughout the rest of Europe (except Finland) and simply makes transport more expensive for Swedish industry.”
As reported earlier by IHS Maritime, PoG has introduced discounts for vessels that meet environmental criteria based on indexes of 10% and a special 30% for those on LNG, which will start in 2016.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
