Port terminals that were negatively affected by the
eight-day strike at the Los Angeles/Long Beach harbor complex will have some
cargo fees waived to provide financial relief and help expedite container
movement, the ports have announced.
The two ports normally assess fees on cargo containers that
linger on its terminals beyond a certain grace period, but they have waived
their portion of cargo fees incurred or impacted by the forced closures.
At the Port of Los Angeles, free time for demurrage has been
extended to all merchandise from Nov. 27 through Dec. 7, meaning that
merchandise on port terminals during that period are not subject to demurrage.
At the Port of Long Beach, a similar waiver period for cargo
fees has been established for the three terminals that were shut down by the
strike – Long Beach Container Terminal at Pier F, International Transportation
Service at Pier G and Total Terminals Intl. at Pier T.
“What we want to do is minimize the impact of the closure on
our customers,” Port of Long Beach Executive Director Chris Lytle explained in
a statement. “We will continue working closely with all the stakeholders for a
smooth transition to normal operations.”
Importers, exporters or their agents should contact service
providers such as ocean carriers or terminal operators for more details on
cargo fees.
ILWU Local 63 and the LA/Long Beach Harbor Employers
Association reached a tentative agreement the night of Dec. 4 and all terminals
at both ports were open the following morning.
“Hundreds of thousands of jobs are dependent on our local
ports, so the work now begins to clear the backlog and to get our economic
engine humming again,” Lytle said.
