Adam:

Let me put it this way - the fee issue for ports is similar to the fee issue associated with landing at foreign airports.

In the course of my 'day job', during the past 3 weeks I ferried an aircraft through Canada, Alaska, Russia, Japan, Guam, Micronesia, a host of little dinky island republics along the way, and finally delivered the aircraft to Tahiti.

At the least expensive airport to get in and out of, the total bill (landing fees, overflight fees, ground handling fees, customs fees, agricultural fees (!), etc.) came to $290. That was in Northern Alaska. At the most expensive airport, the total bill came to $7,100. That was in Japan. I didn't use any more or less services at one airport than another, and all the runways I landed on were paved with asphalt - none were paved with gold.

What I am getting at here is that the fees you pay at ports (water ports or air ports) have nothing to do with the quality or the quantity of the services provided. They are set arbitrarily, or perhaps to "what the traffic will bear".

To a very limited extent, you might be able to influence the fees by seeing if there are any services that you can avoid having to pay for (for example, loading or unloading out of a ULD). But, for the most part, if you are given a high quote for one destination, about all you can do is go price shopping for a different destination, or perhaps try purchasing the complete package (shipping plus ancillary charges) in a different manner, for example, through a freight forwarder who will give you an 'all-in' quote, as opposed to first getting a freight-only quote, then discovering what the port authority is going to charge you once the load passes over the ship's rail at the destination.

Michael