<p data-path-to-node="3"><b data-path-to-node="3" data-index-in-node="0">DURBAN / SINGAPORE</b> — Confronting severe operational delays, deteriorating berth productivity, and prolonged vessel dwell times along the southern African coastline, major ocean container shipping lines, spearheaded by A.P. Moller – Maersk, have announced the implementation and geographical expansion of a targeted <b data-path-to-node="3" data-index-in-node="315">Congestion Fee Destination (CFD)</b> for inbound containerized cargo discharging at South Africa’s primary maritime hub, the Port of Durban.</p><p data-path-to-node="4">The surcharge measures follow weeks of escalating friction at <b data-path-to-node="4" data-index-in-node="62">Durban Gateway Terminal (DGT)</b>—formerly Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2—where a transition to a new terminal operating system (TOS) and handling infrastructure under a joint public-private management model with International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) has triggered operational slowdowns. Compounded by chronic straddle carrier availability deficits, mechanical crane breakdowns, and landside drayage gridlocks, vessel turnaround times at the port have degraded significantly.</p><h6 data-path-to-node="5"><b>Tariff Breakdown and Broadened Origin Scope</b></h6><p data-path-to-node="6">Under operational notices finalized and distributed to the international freight forwarding community, container lines have established a structured destination congestion surcharge:</p><ul data-path-to-node="7"><li><p data-path-to-node="7,0,0"><b data-path-to-node="7,0,0" data-index-in-node="0">Rate Structure:</b> The Congestion Fee Destination is set at <b data-path-to-node="7,0,0" data-index-in-node="57">USD 250 per 20-foot container</b> and <b data-path-to-node="7,0,0" data-index-in-node="91">USD 500 per 40-foot and 45-foot container</b> across all dry cargo, reefer, high-cube, and special equipment variants.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="7,1,0"><b data-path-to-node="7,1,0" data-index-in-node="0">Expanded Scope of Origins:</b> Initially notified to cover shipments embarking from the <b data-path-to-node="7,1,0" data-index-in-node="84">Far East</b> and the <b data-path-to-node="7,1,0" data-index-in-node="101">Middle East</b>, carriers have revised and broadened the CFD's operational scope to explicitly encompass containerized flows originating across the <b data-path-to-node="7,1,0" data-index-in-node="245">Indian Sub-Continent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka)</b>.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="7,2,0"><b data-path-to-node="7,2,0" data-index-in-node="0">Effective Implementation Timeline:</b> The CFD is slated to take formal effect on <b data-path-to-node="7,2,0" data-index-in-node="78">September 15, 2026</b> (based on the Price Calculation Date / first water leg vessel Estimated Time of Departure for spot bookings, and last container gate-in date for FMC-regulated corridors).</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="7,3,0"><b data-path-to-node="7,3,0" data-index-in-node="0">Terminal Specificity:</b> The levy applies directly to all containerized import volumes discharging at the <b data-path-to-node="7,3,0" data-index-in-node="103">Durban Gateway Terminal (DGT)</b>, where quayside and yard dwell times have registered the steepest operational deterioration.</p></li></ul><h6 data-path-to-node="8"><b>Operational Crisis at Durban Gateway Terminal</b></h6><p data-path-to-node="9">Monitoring data released by the South African Freight and Logistics Association (Safla) and the Road Freight Association (RFA) highlights the severity of the logistics bottleneck:</p><ul data-path-to-node="10"><li><p data-path-to-node="10,0,0"><b data-path-to-node="10,0,0" data-index-in-node="0">Tripling of Vessel Waiting Windows:</b> The average Durban port call—measuring cumulative time spent at outer anchorages waiting for a berth plus active quayside handling—surged from under 5 days in late June to more than <b data-path-to-node="10,0,0" data-index-in-node="218">12 days</b> entering September.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="10,1,0"><b data-path-to-node="10,1,0" data-index-in-node="0">Slump in Berth Calls:</b> Monthly commercial berth calls at the terminal fell from 34 vessels in May to just 19 in August, reflecting carrier omissions and forced vessel diversions away from the terminal.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="10,2,0"><b data-path-to-node="10,2,0" data-index-in-node="0">Yard Density and Gating Gridlock:</b> Quayside container yard utilization has breached 85% to 90%, severely constricting ship-to-shore crane productivity. Drayage trucks and chassis operators face multi-hour staging delays outside port gates, with appointment booking slots sharply constrained as terminal teams work under emergency "Hypercare" stabilization protocols.</p></li></ul><h6 data-path-to-node="11"><b>Downstream Squeeze on Subcontinental and Asian EXIM Flows</b></h6><p data-path-to-node="12">The imposition of the CFD arrives at an economically sensitive juncture for southern hemisphere supply chains:</p><ul data-path-to-node="13"><li><p data-path-to-node="13,0,0"><b data-path-to-node="13,0,0" data-index-in-node="0">Cost Burden on Manufacturing Inputs:</b> Durban handles approximately 60% of South Africa's containerized cargo flows. Adding between $250 and $500 per container directly drives up delivered input costs for automotive assembly clusters in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, as well as capital equipment, electronics, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and consumer retail goods moving from India, China, and Southeast Asia.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="13,1,0"><b data-path-to-node="13,1,0" data-index-in-node="0">Compounding Detention and Demurrage (D&amp;D):</b> Shippers and freight forwarding associations caution that the CFD represents only part of the fiscal exposure. Importers are concurrently being hit with heavy storage, detention, and demurrage penalties when cargo cannot be collected within free-time limits due to landside truck booking unavailability—even when such delays stem entirely from port constraints.</p></li><li><p data-path-to-node="13,2,0"><b data-path-to-node="13,2,0" data-index-in-node="0">Modal Spillover:</b> Facing production line stoppages, certain high-value manufacturing and pharmaceutical importers have begun selectively airfreighting urgent components via Johannesburg and Durban airports, incurring steep freight cost premiums to keep factory floors operational.</p></li></ul><p data-path-to-node="14">Carrier pricing executives and regional liner committees affirmed that while the Congestion Fee Destination remains an exceptional cost-recovery measure designed to offset extended vessel idle times and charter burn, the surcharge will remain strictly in place until terminal crane productivity normalizes and outer anchorage queues are sustainably cleared.</p>