Legal Definitions - wharfage

Wharfage refers to the fee charged for the use of a wharf, pier, or dock facility when goods are loaded onto or unloaded from a vessel. It covers the cost associated with the temporary use of the physical structure and sometimes the services involved in handling the cargo at that location. Less commonly, it can also refer to the actual accommodation or space provided by the wharf for such operations.

Here are a few examples to illustrate how wharfage applies:

• Imagine a large international shipping company bringing thousands of containers into a major port. When their cargo ship docks, the port authority charges the shipping company a fee based on the volume or weight of the containers that are moved onto and off the ship using the port's wharves. This specific charge for utilizing the wharf infrastructure to transfer the goods is the wharfage fee.

  This example demonstrates wharfage as the direct payment made by a shipping entity for the privilege of using a port's facilities to handle its cargo.

• Consider a local seafood distributor who regularly imports fresh fish from smaller fishing vessels. When a fishing boat arrives at the municipal pier to offload its catch for the distributor, the harbor master charges the boat owner a small fee for the temporary use of the pier space and access to the unloading area. This fee, allowing the transfer of the fish from the boat to refrigerated trucks on land, constitutes wharfage.

  Here, wharfage is the charge for a smaller vessel to use the dock for the specific purpose of transferring its goods (fish) to shore.

• A construction company imports heavy machinery components from overseas for a large infrastructure project. Their contract with the private port facility specifies a per-ton charge for all materials that are unloaded from their cargo ship and temporarily stored on the port's designated wharf before being transported inland. This contractual charge for the use of the wharf during the unloading and initial staging process is the wharfage.

  This scenario illustrates wharfage as a pre-agreed fee within a commercial agreement for the handling and temporary placement of goods on a wharf.