The Framework of Port Services Agreements
In a port unit, the ship's agency service, stevedoring service, survey service and transport-forwarding service are rendered in accordance with international standards and Georgian legislation. The companies rendering these services are obliged, before starting the respective activity, to submit to the Agency their registration data and contact information — a rule that secures the transparency of the port services market: the shipowner and charterer see in advance who renders services in the port and to whom to apply; the Agency sees who is registered in the market. All four services rest on international standards, which means their quality is assessed against not only national but also international benchmarks — and at the time of contracting these two levels must be taken into account together.
The Duties of the Agency Company
The concept of the disbursement account is the central instrument of port economics: a ship's stay in port generates dozens of different charges — mooring, pilotage, stevedoring, survey — and all these sums are placed in one document delivered to the shipowner as a whole. Checking the disbursement is therefore a standard stage of port disputes: the basis of each item must be verified separately.
The agency company is obliged, in the name and on the instruction of the shipowner or charterer, to settle accounts for all types of services rendered and to submit to it a single disbursement account — meaning that every expense incurred in the port is summed in one document and verified from a single source. In addition, the agency company must ensure the provision of data about the ship to the maritime single window system; it is responsible for the accuracy of that data and for updating it on change — an obligation that is the foundation of the port's digital coordination.