http://www.lloydslist.com/ll/news/singapore-cruise-agents-up-in-arms-over-extra-charges/20017706374.htm;.065acf6a61c52eed94766d1ba7da5d95d4ecd58a
Singapore cruise agents up in arms
over extra charges
Marcus Hand, Singapore - Friday 9 October 2009
CRUISESHIP agents are in uproar over a decision by the Singapore
Cruise Centre to charge ships an additional docking fee
of 10 times the usual amount if they are
forced to berth at container terminals due to congestion.
Singapore-based cruise line agents were informed officially a week
ago of hefty new service charges to be levied in the October 2009
to April 2010 cruise season on vessels that will have to call at
PSA’s container terminals due to lack of space during busy periods
at the cruise centre.
The fee was not stated in
the letter to agents informing them of the new
charges, but agents who have enquired were told it would be an
additional S$3,600
($2,587) per hour, compared with S$340 per hour docking charges
previously.
Singapore Shipping Association cruise sub-committee chairman
Frankie Tan said they were concerned that both the service charge
was very high, and it was being implemented immediately.
Mr Tan said it would affect the costs of cruise lines that had
already published their programme for the next season and budgeted
for their costs. International cruise lines normally plan their
itineraries at least one year in advance.
The new higher fees will affect 19 ships scheduled to call at the
Singapore Cruise Centre between now and April 2010. An average call
of 12 hours for an affected vessel would cost an estimated average
additional amount of S$41,392.
The Costa Classica, due to stay
in port in Singapore for 34 hours, will pay an estimated additional
S$107,644 on top of the original docking fee of $14,756. In total
the 19 affected calls are expected to cost an additional
S$789,399.
The cruise centre has given no reason as to why the additional fees
are being levied and the SSA expressed grave concerns over the lack
of consistency of transparency of fees being charged for vessels
calling at third party berths.
“It would be a shame if a
lack of transparency irreparably damages Singapore’s reputation and
credibility after all the work that has gone into developing
Singapore as an International Maritime Centre and cruise
hub,” said SSA president SS Teo.
Mr Tan called for the fee to be postponed until at least next year
to give cruise lines time to decide if they wanted to make
alternative arrangements.
Cruise line agents said it was too early to gauge the reaction of
cruise lines although they are expected to be unhappy about the
charges and unwilling to accept such a large additional
charge.
“Cruiseship operators may decide to divert their ships to other
ports in the region in view of their lower costs,” said Mr
Teo.
The Singapore Cruise Centre is
the only licensed cruise terminal operator in the city state, and
Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore does not allow
cruiseships to anchor for passengers to be brought ashore by
tenders.
Singapore’s second cruise terminal, which broke ground last week,
will not be operational until the end of 2011. Cruiseship passenger
arrivals in Singapore have grown by 20% this year and are expected
to pass the 1m mark before year end.
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