Shippers warn of rate rise due to concession fee

Ship liners have warned of higher freight and passenger rates if the new operator of the Manila North Harbor is allowed to impose concession fees on port service providers. In a letter to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), the Philippine Liner Shipping Association (PLSA) sought a review of the privatization contract for the country's busiest but most inefficient port. The group wants the government to prevent incoming operator Manila North Harbour Port, Inc. (MNHPI) from charging concession fees on companies that offer ship support services at the port. The MNHPI is a joint venture between Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and Reghis Romero III's Harbour Centre Terminal Port, Inc. The fee — equivalent to 5 percent of service providers' revenues —will cover mainly companies that provide bunkering or refueling services for ships at the harbor, the PLSA said. This means an automatic 5-percent hike in their service costs, the group pointed out. "We humbly request that this concession fee on bunkering and other services be deleted because of its economic impact on port users directly and the general public," the group said in its letter. At present, companies that offer bunkering services only pay an annual registration fee of P2,000. The PLSA noted that with ship liners consuming 200,000 liters of fuel a year, the added cost could reach at least P300 million. "The biggest cost factor of shipping is the fuel cost and most, if not all, our members refuel at the North Harbor in order to avail [themselves] of the lower cost of fuel in Manila," it pointed out. "This provision will have an impact on shipping operation costs and subsequently, on freight and passenger fares," the group added. The concession fee was one of the issues raised by stakeholders, and the MNHPI's takeover of the port was postponed for a month to February 15 as a result. The PLSA said they might be forced to boycott the port and move to other terminals in the area if docking fees at the North Harbor becomes too expensive. Other ports may not be as efficient, but it would be much cheaper for them, it added. The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), the North Harbor's present operator, said the MNHPI had agreed to suspend the concession fee. But the PLSA said this would not stop the company from reimposing the fee once it finally takes over. The joint venture won the bidding for the Manila North Harbor's modernization as far back as 2007, but injunctions snagged the awarding for two years until a court upheld the MNHPI's claim in July last year. The following month, dockworkers resisted the P14.5-billion plan, claiming they would be laid off. The MNHPI later assured them that it would in fact hire 5,000 construction men and 10,000 more to operate the port. — GMANews.TV