Shipping’s hidden cost: Why 75% of APAC managers still track port bills
HarborLab trial cuts disbursement expenses by $150,000 in three months using live benchmarking across 1,400 ports.
While the maritime industry has streamlined voyage expenses, bunker procurement, and commercial port costs, one critical area continues to operate with minimal oversight: husbandry. Antonis Malaxianakis, founder and CEO of HarborLab, a port cost management platform based in Athens, highlights how technical departments still rely on spreadsheets and email to handle expenses tied to bunkering, crew changes, and supplies.
Unlike commercial port calls, husbandry operations lack direct cargo revenue to offset costs, leaving them outside the rigorous financial scrutiny applied elsewhere. As Malaxianakis notes, this lack of visibility means these expenses often escape the same level of analysis.
Yet, the invoices generated during a single port call can be overwhelming, spanning hundreds of pages from port authorities, pilots, tug operators, customs brokers, and repair firms. Pricing inconsistencies within the same port, along with delayed charges like demurrage, detention fees, or equipment rentals, further complicate the process.
Why shipping’s husbandry costs remain overlooked: port husbandry costs
A regional disparity in management practices is particularly striking. In the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, 75% of technical managers still handle husbandry bills using Excel, compared to 40% in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). In Asia, technical managers often have direct control over daily port expenditures but lack real-time benchmarks to verify whether agents’ quotes are fair. “The decision-maker already holds the budget,” Malaxianakis explains. “They just don’t have the tools to assess if the pricing is reasonable.”
HarborLab’s platform addresses this gap by cross-referencing individual expense items against a database covering over 1,400 ports, built from more than 40,000 port calls. The system identifies incorrect or duplicated charges and negotiates credits with agents. A controlled three-month trial with a single customer demonstrated its impact: vessels managed through HarborLab generated $220,000 in savings, compared to $70,000 for those using traditional disbursement processes.
How granular benchmarking uncovers savings
Malaxianakis attributes the difference not to a single factor but to the power of benchmarking. “Manual reviews can only confirm whether an invoice matches a quoted tariff,” he says. “They can’t determine if the quote itself was fair.” HarborLab’s approach accounts for local variations, vessel types, and specific port requirements, ensuring comparisons are precise rather than generalized.
The platform’s analysts verify official tariffs directly from ports and cross-check them against approved disbursement accounts for similar vessels and locations. This method ensures that even minor discrepancies, such as a crane charge for a tanker in one port versus a bulker in another, are flagged and addressed. By focusing on these details, HarborLab turns potential overcharges into actionable savings.
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