Port Tax

[Jib]

Ever heard of Port fees/ tariffs/ harbor taxes on ships and cargo?

[JoshuaRed]

Oh of course, any port large enough to maintain a staff of port officials would intercept and board incoming vessels to assess their fees.

[Coastie04]

Hence, the Revenue Cutter Service, precursor to the Coast Guard. Its purpose was to collect revenues from tarrifs.

Coastie

[HarborMaster]

I'll Take it !!!

[Daniel]

Customs inspection could be a major headache for pirates. Several of Henry Every's crew landed in Ireland with their loot in 1696, only to have the customs inspectors discover and seize their loot. The inspectors' suspicions had been aroused by the many foreign coins the pirates carried, their willingness to pay exorbitant prices for horses, and the like.

[Jib]

Any idea how much they used to demand? How about if the fee was based upon the size of the vessel, number of crew, or size of the cargo.

I imagine this helped the smuggling trade.

[CaptainJackRussell]

In the pirates days, the harbour fee was normally fixed by the number of the masts (half ship, full ship, schooner...).

Today it is set by the tons of loading capacity, either in tons or in toi.

Today, if a very modern vessel stays 10 days in Hamburg harbour, it lost all it's worth...

Quay charges are and where not the only costs. Cranes, warehoses, horses...all that cost extra.

Jack

(forwarder at Hamburg at normal business)