Westgate Ports Announcement
Westgate Ports Victoria Dock Granted Customs Bond Licence
We are pleased to announce that with the completion of construction at Victoria Dock and the upgrading of our perimeter security, Westgate Ports has recently been granted a s.77G Australian Customs Bond Depot Licence. This means that we are now able to perform a number of services and functions for goods under Customs control. In particular:
- 1. Storage of underbond FCL containers
Clients can now move containers off the wharf underbond to Westgate Ports depot, next to the international terminals to avoid wharf storage, prior to delivery to final destination. We have enough container hardstand capacity to accommodate a very large number (over 1500) FCL containers in this manner.
- 2. FAK unpacks
Clients can now direct FAK containers to Westgate Ports depot for unpack and delivery subject to customs clearance, and house bills of lading being presented. We have a very large part of our new warehouse dedicated to goods under Customs control, and with 16 loading docks we are able to unpack containers very quickly into a very high quality facility. We also expect that given the way our site and systems are set up, we can deliver cleared goods to LCL carriers more quickly than some other depots, potentially avoiding additional costs for waiting time.
The ability to provide Customs services is a significant step forward for our site at Victoria Dock, and offers all Port users a real alternative to the other wharf-based Customs licenced depots. Combined with our AQIS accreditation, Westgate Ports is now able to provide Customs and AQIS services on a scale that gives clients the ability to move cargo more quickly and cost efficiently than has previously been the case.
Container and cargo visibility will be a very important part of this process of course, and our website has been configured to allow you to track cargo to the house bill level. We will be speaking to you as you book underbond container and cargo movements to ensure that you understand how to extract the information you need from the online system.
We expect that within the next four weeks we also will be granted a s.79 Queens Bond Customs warehouse licence, which will mean that clients will be able to conduct Nature 20 and Nature 30 transactions at Westgate Ports as well. We will update you once this is in place.
Luke Duffy - General Manager
Issued - February 27th 2009
Level 4, 650 Lorimer Street (Locked Bag 1300) PORT MELBOURNE VIC 3207 | Ph: (03) 9673 1111 | Fax: (03) 9673 1188