Issue No 3, August 2008
SHIPPERS SLAP ON $25-$50
'PIRACY SURCHARGE'
By Gitonga Marete and Githua Kihara,
For The East African Posted Monday, June 1 2009
As the shipping industry grapples with the piracy menace in the Gulf
of Aden and off the Somali coast in the Indian Ocean, at least two lines
carrying commercial cargo to the port of Mombasa have introduced an
extra fee on all the cargo the said route.
The lines, according to the Kenya Shippers Council chief executive Gilbert
Langat, are charging $25 per twenty foot equivalent unit (teus) and
$50 for the 40-foot container to offset the increased cost.
Mr Langat said the increase is as a result of the longer route round
the Cape of Good Hope that shipping lines are using to avoid the pirate
infested Horn of Africa.
By taking the longer route, shipping lines claim they are incurring
higher costs of ship maintenance and pass the same to consumers.
But according to the Kenya Maritime Authority, the increase is unjustified.
Director General Nancy Karigithu says although piracy has forced some
lines to follow the much longer route thereby increasing fuel consumption
and transit times, the extra cost does not warrant that level of increase.
The Kenya Maritime Authority regulates maritime activities in the country.
She further said, “Although piracy
off the Somali coast cannot be disputed, there are those who would want
to ride on the fear of piracy to justify charging an extra fee,”
adding that the surcharge was not necessary, especially with Kenya having
fully participated in the suppression of piracy in the Gulf of Aden
and off the Somali coast.
“The lines ought to acknowledge and support the efforts undertaken
both by the government of Kenya and the international community. They
have a role to play in the war against piracy and punishing shippers
through an extra should not be the first line of action,” she
said.
She said slapping the piracy surcharge fee on cargo destined for Kenya
was not justifiable since this amounted to double punishment and watered
down the country’s effort in the fight against the menace.
Kenya, she argued, was at the forefront of the recently concluded Code
of Conduct concerning repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against
Ships in the Gulf of Aden and the West Indian Ocean (Djibouti Code)
which was signed by 11 countries, at a regional meeting held in Djibouti
at the beginning of this year.
“As a country with significant interest in the regional maritime
security, Kenya has its national courts to fill the judicial void created
by lack of a central government in Somalia,” she said, adding
that the Kenya government has concluded and signed memoranda of understanding
with various governments to allow for captured pirates to be charged
in Kenyan courts.
The government entered into agreements with the US in January and the
European Union in March to enable captured piracy suspects to be tried
in Kenya.