Nueva Singapur backs away from port-access fee after 24 hours

The Port Authority announced Monday that it would not implement a three percent transit surcharge on container vessels using the southern approach to Nueva Singapur's deep-water berth, abandoning a proposal it had outlined just twenty-four hours earlier. The reversal came after shipping-line representatives and the Oriente Moderno Financial Authority flagged operational complications and potential cascade effects across the federal grid.

The original proposal had framed the fee as a congestion-management tool during the monsoon window, when vessel queues at the berth can stretch to four days. Port Authority Director Miguel Reyes said in a statement that the fee structure had been designed to test demand-response mechanisms, not to establish permanent policy. The decision to withdraw it reflects consultation with federal Treasury officials in Meridian and alignment with Costa Mar's marine-protection framework.

Shipping lines and bunker suppliers expressed relief at the reversal. Container throughput has remained stable at 847,000 TEU for the week, with no reported diversion of traffic to secondary ports. The decision removes a point of friction that had begun to complicate the federal Assembly's broader discussion of maritime tariff harmonisation.