Geopolitics and port efficiency extend beyond terminal cranes and dredging metres
Geopolitics in maritime freight and port efficiency are not only measured by the size of terminal cranes or the depth of berths. Behind the commercial calls, technical-nautical port services — in particular the mooring and unmooring of vessels — reflect a structural economic gap between the major logistics platforms of Western Europe, Latin America and the African Atlantic coast. This month, the port of Las Palmas has opened a new “cold war” between the employers’ associations of the “real economy” outside the CEOE: Asocelpa and Oneport resist a price increase backed by the first beneficiary, the president of Fedeport (CEOE), because he owns the dominant operator, Sepcan. It is possible that the courts will eventually decide in favour of the real-economy organisations, but by then the State will have money.
Wide differences across Atlantic hubs in mooring costs
A comparative analysis of the tariff schedules in force in the main hubs of the Middle Atlantic, excluding the Canary Islands, shows stark differences in the cost of tying up a vessel to a buoy. The Portuguese terminal of Sines (Administração dos Portos de Sines e do Algarve, APS) applies a progressive scale starting at €110 to €160 for ships up to 2,000 GT, prices from €220 to €480 for the 2,001 to 10,000 GT range, rises to between €550 and €900 for 10,001 to 30,000 GT, sits between €1,100 and €1,650 for vessels of 30,001 to 70,000 GT, and reaches between €1,800 and €2,800 for complex operations at its LNG and oil terminals for tankers of more than 70,000 GT.
Tanger Med and the competitive model of North Africa
In North Africa, Tanger Med has consolidated its operational leadership in the Strait by combining cutting-edge technology with a highly aggressive tariff scheme. The Tanger Med Port Authority (TMPA) sets mooring operations for the fleet below 10,000 GT at €180 to €350, places the 10,000 to 50,000 GT range between €500 and €950, while large intercontinental vessels over 100,000 GT pay between €1,400 and €2,200 per call.
Further south, the port of Agadir (Agence Nationale de Ports du Maroc, ANP) keeps the lowest cost structure in the Maghreb Atlantic region, with services for fishing vessels and coastal traffic under 3,000 GT requiring an outlay of between €80 and €150, general cargo and bulk carriers of 3,000 to 15,000 GT paying between €200 and €450, and tariff caps for cruise ships and vessels larger than 15,000 GT set at between €500 and €850 per operation.
The reality in the Gulf of Guinea and South America
In West African ports such as Lomé, Abidjan, Dakar, Tema and Lagos, pricing is settled in currencies such as the euro or the US dollar. At the port of Dakar (Port Autonome de Dakar, PAD), mooring calls for ships under 2,000 GT require between €150 and €250; the 5,000 to 15,000 GT stretch rises to between €450 and €750, and large vessels over 25,000 GT reach €1,100 to €1,800. In Abidjan (Port Autonome d’Abidjan, PAA), vessels of 5,000 to 10,000 GT are priced between €350 and €600, rising to €1,200 to €2,000 for container ships over 30,000 GT, adding about €150 for the use of auxiliary boats.
At the Lomé terminal in Togo (Port Autonome de Lomé / LCT), the fleet under 10,000 GT pays between €250 and €450, the 10,000 to 30,000 GT segment is located between €600 and €950, and calls at transshipment terminals above 40,000 GT account for between €1,100 and €1,800, adding about €150 for a mooring vessel. In Ghana, Tema facilities (Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, GPHA) invoice between €230 and €370 for ships up to 5,000 GT, from €505 to €830 for the 5,001 to 15,000 GT band, and between €1,100 and €1,930 for vessels over 20,000 GT. In Nigeria, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in Lagos sets base rates ranging from €370 to €1,380, to which surcharges for technical assistance of between €185 and €460 are added.
Across the Atlantic, Santos port in Brazil (Autoridade Portuária de Santos, SPA) — the largest port complex in Latin America — reflects the impact of local union regulations (Sindicato dos Amarradores de Santos) on price setting. Mooring operations for the fleet up to 5,000 GT are priced between €165 and €275; the 5,001 to 20,000 GT range is between €320 and €600; vessels of 20,001 to 50,000 GT pay between €645 and €1,100, while Capesize bulk carriers and large container ships over 60,000 GT face invoices of between €1,200 and €2,025 for each mooring or unmooring carried out at their berths.
The entry The port mooring price gap: Mooring rates around the Canary Islands was first published on canarymaritime.com.
