Port Fee Discounts for Cargo and Cruise Ships

Due to the consequences suffered by the maritime industry as a result of the covid-19 outbreak, through Resolution No. 12/2020, the General Administration of Ports (the “AGP”, after its acronym in Spanish) decided to make a discount on the General Port Use Fees for Container Ships that dock in the concessionary docks of the Port of Buenos Aires. Such fees are applicable to all vessels or naval devices that enter the Port, either to carry out operations or other activities in docks or other berthing facilities of the Port Administration or of individuals, located within the Port Unit defined by its jurisdiction, including its inner or outer anchorage areas.

In order to promote the development of the port activity and the arrival of more cargo to the terminals, the AGP designed a partial and progressive discount scheme according to the number of calls made by the Container Ships of each of the Shipping Lines operating in the port. In this way, the discount granted by the AGP will be calculated according to the number of ships that arrive and in quarterly scale, starting at a 5% discount of the fees to those lines from 5 to 7 ships and reaching up to 50% discount of the fees to those lines that exceed 30 ships. The measure will apply retroactively from January 1, 2020 and will be in force until June 30, 2022.

Likewise, according to the AGP's official website, a 50% discount would also be applied to the base rate of the waterway toll, both inbound and outbound, on the Buenos Aires-Atlantic Ocean section.

On the other hand, with the aim of promoting international tourism, which was diminished by the measures adopted by the Argentine Government, the AGP also approved Resolution 15/2020 by which it decided to make a discount on the fees for the use of the Port of Buenos Aires during the 2020/2021 cruise season.

Even with the implementation of different security and hygiene protocols in the port, many commercial activities have been affected by the current situation in the country, among which the tourist activity is one of the most affected. For this reason, taking into account that the port receives around half a million tourists a year, the AGP anticipates the season and seeks to boost the cruise industry for the 2020/2021 season, which they estimate would benefit not only the tourists who visit Argentina, but all those activities that are linked to it.

In the first place, the AGP established a 25% discount on the concept of the General Port Use Fee for Ships and the Specific Port Use Service, defined in Resolution No. 91/1994, for those international tourism cruise ships that arrive at any of the facilities in the jurisdiction of the Port of Buenos Aires. It is worth mentioning that this bonus will be 100% for those vessels exceeding 315 meters in length.

Finally, and as in the 2019/2020 season, the AGP set a 100% discount on the concepts of Passenger Fee, Use of Scanners and Security Charges established in Resolution 24/2010, applicable exclusively to those international tourism cruise ships that arrive at the Port of Buenos Aires, whose length equals or exceeds 315 meters.