French Port Le Havre has announced that it will freeze its harbour dues for containerships for the third consecutive year in 2012.
The Port Authority said that the move had been made to facilitate the return of confidence by container shipping lines, and help recapture containerised trades.
In the Netherlands, the Port of Rotterdam has also announced that it will freeze its harbour dues, although Antwerp and Hamburg will both increase theirs.
Antwerp's increased dues will be used to fund infrastructure developments, although it will, along with Le Havre, offer a 10 per cent discount on dues to shipping lines that operate the most environmentally friendly ships that call at the ports, measured by the Environmental Ship Index.
