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News 14 Oct, 2025

Updated - China announces special port fees on US ships

Erin Walton
Erin Walton
Assistant Corporate Director

On 10 October 2025, China's Ministry of Transport announced special port fees for ships that are owned by US entities, other organisations, and individuals; ships operated by US entities, other organisations, and individuals; ships owned or operated by entities or other organisations in which US entities, other organisations, and individuals directly or indirectly hold 25% or more of the equity (voting rights, board seats); US flagged ships; as well as ships built in the United States.

Commencing 14 October 2025, the maritime administration of each port will be responsible for collecting special port fees for relevant vessels calling in that port.

The announcement advises that special port fees will increase incrementally, as follows:

  • From 14 October 2025: RMB 400 per net ton
  • Starting from 17 April 2026 : RMB 640 per net ton
  • Starting from 17 April 17 2027: RMB 880 per net ton
  • Starting from 17 April 2028: RMB 1,120 per net ton

(Amounts less than 1 net ton will be calculated as 1 net ton)

Vessels calling at multiple Chinese ports on the same voyage will only pay special port fees at the first port of call. The announcement further states that the same ship will be charged no more than 5 times within a year.

Further specific implementation measures were announced on 14 October, which also provide for some exemptions for vessels built in China, vessels entering shipyards solely for repairs and others. The implementation measures can be found on the Ministry of Transport website here.

For the full announcement, see here.

Members are advised to review existing charter parties and consider how any clause relating to fees may allocate the costs burden of these fees.

Please contact your Claims Handler for assistance with charterparty interpretation and drafting queries.

Please also see responses to a number of frequently asked questions received by the Club in respect of the Implementing Measures, below. With thanks to Sloma & Co for their assistance and guidance.

FAQ's

At present, there is no official explanation on the definition of the operator in the Implementing Measures. Early indications are that companies put the DOC holder as the operator in the declaration documents.

The phrase “directly” normally means that the U.S. enterprises, organizations or individuals are shown as the shareholders and/or members of the board of directors in the registration documents of the owners/operators. The phrase “indirectly” normally means that the UBO will be traced.  

Based upon information available, the MSA have an internal system to check the vessel’s registration and UBO. There is no specific regulation in the Implementation Measures to address a situation where there is doubt around ownership, however, it is expected that the MSA could require the owners and/or the operators to provide the company registration certificate, articles of association, shareholder list, board list, structure of equity and control chain equity, identities of the shareholders/board members of all level, company’s annual audit report, other KYC documents, etc.

According to the current Implementing Measures, the Special Port Dues would be charged only in the circumstances set out in the Implementing Measures. Except for those circumstances, it seems that other US-linked or US related entities would not be affected.

According to the Implementing Measures, the ship interests or agents need to declare certain information 7 days before the vessel calls at the Chinese port. The ship interests normally refer to the owners and/or operators. In the circumstances, it seems that the Special Port Dues could be paid via either party of the owners, operators or local agents.

The Implementing Measures provides some circumstances of exemption. If the vessel is built in China, even if the owners or operators are U.S. enterprises, organizations or individuals, the vessels directly or indirectly owned or operated by the entities in which U.S. stakeholders hold at least a 25 percent ownership share including voting rights or board seats, as well as the vessels fly the U.S. flag, the vessel could apply for exemption and the special port charges would be not applicable. If the vessel enters into a Chinese shipyard for repair in ballast, the special port charges would also be not applicable. In addition, the special port charges would be not applicable if the Chinese authorities think that there are other circumstances of exemption.

The Implementation Measures does not specify an exemption for bunkering, crew change or any non-commercial reasons. At authorities’ discretion, they could decide whether this vessel could be exempted or not according to the Implementation Measures. The owners and operators could try to approach MSA before fixing to China to explore their position on exemption.  
 

All the exemptions have been specified in the Implementing Measures.

The MSA has published a Reporting Form. According to the latest notice published by the MSA, the ship interests or agents need to submit the attached Reporting Form together with the declaration documents before the vessel calls at a Chinese port.  

Except for the Implementing Measures and Reporting Form already published, there is no other specific implementation measure or subsidiary legislation for the time being. It is not yet clear whether or not other measures or subsidiary legislation will be published. Such further measures might be subject to the execution of the current Implementing Measures.