Contargo introduces congestion surcharge for barge transports to and from Rotterdam.

Due to bottlenecks in container processing in the Port of Rotterdam, Contargo is introducing a congestion surcharge. For bookings on scheduled barge departures from 1 August 2014, a charge of 15.00 Euro per container will be made for containers handled there.

Since the middle of April, vessels of Contargo’s fleet have had increasingly long waits for processing at the port terminals in Rotterdam. Processing times of 50 hours, peaking at up to 90 hours, are no longer unusual. On average, processing times have increased by one third overall.

The surcharge will initially apply in the month of August only, and will be used to cover additional costs such as unloading at other terminals, trucking within the seaport, reduction of percentage capacity load of the existing fleet as well as the chartering of additional tonnage.

As Contargo wishes to provide a reliable product of consistently high quality despite the bottlenecks in the Port of Rotterdam, Contargo asks customers to book as early as possible. This will be a great help for planning.

Now that the holiday season has begun, first signs of bottlenecks are appearing in Antwerp, too. Contargo is keeping a very close watch on the processing situation in Antwerp so that counter-measures can be taken in good time.

If you have any questions, please contact the Contargo Waterway Logistics team in Zwijndrecht.

Heleen Scharroo,
Phone: +31 78 6254-651 | Mobile: + 31 6 20611698
E-Mail: hscharroo@contargo.net

Richard Ronteltap,
Phone: + 31 78 6254-641 | Mobile: +31 6 29402740
E-Mail: rronteltap@contargo.net