Port taxes (Not regarding cruise ships)
When ships arrive or anchor outside ports, as well as when they arrive at anchor in Greenland, a harbor fee is paid to the national treasury.
The port authority task is carried out – depending on the port – either by RAL A/S, SIKUKI Nuuk Harbour A/S, KNI Pilersuisoq A/S, or Mittarfeqarfiit A/S.
The local port authority collects port tax for taxable ships calling at or anchoring outside the following 19 ports:
● Qaanaaq,
● Upernavik,
● Uummannaq,
● Qeqertarsuaq,
● Ilulissat,
● Qasigiannguit,
● Aasiaat,
● Kangaatsiaq,
● Sisimiut,
● Kangerlussuaq,
● Maniitsoq,
● Nuuk,
● Paamiut,
● Narsaq,
● Narsarsuaq,
● Qaqortoq,
● Nanortalik,
● Tasillaq,
● Ittoqqortoormiit.
The ship's master or another responsible crew member, or an agent for the ship, must, before the ship departs from a port, as directed by the port authority, submit a sworn statement to the port authority regarding the ship's type, the ship's gross tonnage (measured in gross tons, abbreviated as GT), the number of days spent in the port or at anchor, and acknowledge the assessed fees.
The statement form can be found here:
Port tax based on gross tonnage and vessel type
● For passenger ships: 0.70 DKK per commenced day.
● For fishing vessels registered in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, or abroad: 0.70 DKK per commenced day.
● For ships designed for cargo transport and other vessels: 0.70 DKK per commenced week.
Minimum port tax
As a minimum, the port tax is payed on 70 gross tons (GT).
The minimum port tax rate means that a minimum port tax must be paid for all non-exempted ships and vessels, based on 70 gross tons (GT). A 10 GT ship is therefore to pay a 70 GT tax.
Ships exempt from port tax
Exempt from port tax are:
- Fishing vessels registered as domiciled in Greenland.
- Fishing vessels chartered by a Greenlandic fishing company.
- Ships under 200 gross tons (GT) registered as domiciled in Greenland.
- Danish and foreign naval vessels as well as Danish and foreign government vessels not used commercially.Ships owned or chartered by Greenland's Self-Government authorities, a Greenlandic municipality, or the Danish government.
- Wrecked ships not destined for the port according to their cargo papers.
- Ships seeking port only for compass adjustment, medical assistance, crew changes, or disembarking or embarking sick, deceased, or shipwrecked individuals, or boarding or disembarking pilots.
- Ships serving exclusively scientific or humanitarian purposes.
- Ships engaged in regular traffic supplying settlements and outlying districts.
- Passenger ships owned by shipping companies that have entered into a service contract with the Greenlandic Self-Government.
- Ships stationed in Greenland and equipped for and engaged in activities as rescue and tugboats, sand pumpers and stone fishing vessels, diving vessels, and barges.
- Ships solely unloading fish or fishery products purchased in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, or abroad for processing at onshore facilities in Greenland.
- Ships trading fish and fishery products in settlements and outlying districts.
- Ships solely engaged in transporting oil and oil products.
Port taxes (Only regarding cruise ships)
When ships arrive or anchor outside ports, as well as when they arrive at anchor in Greenland, a harbor fee is paid to the national treasury.
The port authority task is carried out – depending on the port – either by RAL A/S, SIKUKI Nuuk Harbour A/S, KNI Pilersuisoq A/S, or Mittarfeqarfiit A/S.
The local port authority collects port tax for taxable ships calling at or anchoring outside the following 19 ports:
● Qaanaaq,
● Upernavik,
● Uummannaq,
● Qeqertarsuaq,
● Ilulissat,
● Qasigiannguit,
● Aasiaat,
● Kangaatsiaq,
● Sisimiut,
● Kangerlussuaq,
● Maniitsoq,
● Nuuk,
● Paamiut,
● Narsaq,
● Narsarsuaq,
● Qaqortoq,
● Nanortalik,
● Tasillaq,
● Ittoqqortoormiit.
Port tax for cruise ships based on gross tonnage and vessel type
● Cruise ships per commenced day: 1 krone and 10 øre if the ship's gross tonnage does not exceed 30,000 GT.
● If the ship's GT is 30,000 or more, the fee is 2 kroner and 20 øre per GT per commenced day.
Reduced port tax for Sikuki Nuuk Harbour
• The port tax for cruise ships with a gross tonnage not exceeding 30,000 GT is set to 0 DKK per GT per commenced day in Nuuk Harbour.
For cruise ships with a gross tonnage of 30,000 GT and above, the rate is reduced from the current fee rate of 1.10 DKK per gross ton (GT) per commenced day to 0.70 DKK per GT per commenced day.
Minimum port tax
As a minimum, the port tax is payed on 70 gross tons (GT).
The minimum port tax rate means that a minimum port tax must be paid for all non-exempted ships and vessels, based on 70 gross tons (GT). A 10 GT ship is therefore to pay a 70 GT tax.
Ships exempt from port tax
Exempt from port tax are:
- Fishing vessels registered as domiciled in Greenland.
- Fishing vessels chartered by a Greenlandic fishing company.
- Ships under 200 gross tons (GT) registered as domiciled in Greenland.
- Danish and foreign naval vessels as well as Danish and foreign government vessels not used commercially.Ships owned or chartered by Greenland's Self-Government authorities, a Greenlandic municipality, or the Danish government.
- Wrecked ships not destined for the port according to their cargo papers.
- Ships seeking port only for compass adjustment, medical assistance, crew changes, or disembarking or embarking sick, deceased, or shipwrecked individuals, or boarding or disembarking pilots.
- Ships serving exclusively scientific or humanitarian purposes.
- Ships engaged in regular traffic supplying settlements and outlying districts.
- Passenger ships owned by shipping companies that have entered into a service contract with the Greenlandic Self-Government.
- Ships stationed in Greenland and equipped for and engaged in activities as rescue and tugboats, sand pumpers and stone fishing vessels, diving vessels, and barges.
- Ships solely unloading fish or fishery products purchased in Denmark, the Faroe Islands, or abroad for processing at onshore facilities in Greenland.
- Ships trading fish and fishery products in settlements and outlying districts.
- Ships solely engaged in transporting oil and oil products.
Cruise Passenger tax (pax tax)
The passenger tax (Pax Tax) is 50 DKK per passenger.
The obligation to pay the pax tax arises at each port call, at each anchorage outside the port, and when cruise ships are at anchor (skibet ligger ‘på red').
The pax tax is imposed based on the number of passengers on board at the time of arrival.
If the cruise ship arrives with 500 passengers at port or anchorage, the pax tax is determined based on this number of passengers, regardless of whether some passengers disembark or new passengers come on board after the port call or arrival at anchor.
The pax tax is paid once per port call or anchorage. Towing or movement between different quay sections is not considered a new port call.
The pax taxis in addition to the applicable port fee.
Environmental and Maintenance Fee on Cruise Passengers
Municipalities may impose a fee of up to 50 DKK per passenger when a cruise ship calls at locations designated by the municipality.
For administrative reasons, it is still required upon departure from the 19 beforementioned ports to report and settle both the cruise passenger fee, port fee, and environmental and maintenance fee. Reporting and settlement are made to the local port authority. Calculation and settlement of fees to municipalities will include all previous disembarkations before the port call - since the last call at a Greenlandic port.
The fee is calculated based on the number of cruise ship passengers at the time of disembarkation, regardless of the actual number of cruise passengers disembarked.
Locations: Environmental and Maintenance fee 2024
Reporting and Payment to the Local Port Authority
Both port tax and pax tax to the national treasury and fees to municipalities must be reported collectively in the same spreadsheet (Excel). It can be found here.
The Settlement (payment) also occurs collectively after each departure from port or anchorage.
The differences between the port tax, pax tax, and environmental and maintenance fee are as follows:
- The port tax is calculated based on the ship's tonnage (volume) and the duration of stay in the port.
- The pax tax is calculated based on the number of passengers on board the arriving cruise ship (before any embarkations or disembarkations).
- The environmental and maintenance fee is calculated based on the number of passengers on board at the time of any prior disembarkations (regardless of the actual number of passengers disembarking). Any prior disembarkations are self-declared to the next port authority if the port is called upon.
The total tax and fee payment is automatically generated based on the reported information in the spreadsheet (Declaration on Honour)
The pax tax, port tax, and environmental and maintenance fees must be reported in the same declaration as mentioned above.
The reporting is structured as a self-declaration scheme, where the ship's master, broker, or agent provides a declaration of accuracy regarding the information. Providing incorrect information is subject to fines.
The electronic form must include information about the ship's type, the ship's tonnage stated in gross tonnage (GT), number of passengers and their nationalities, the actual number of days commenced in the port, and possibly also information for calculating and collecting an environmental and maintenance fee for municipalities. The practice of reporting passengers' nationalities in the same form continues.
The information provided to the local port authority is used both for Greenland Statistics' analysis of the development of cruise tourism in Greenland (including the number of cruise passengers by nationality) and for calculating fee revenues to the national treasury and fee invoices to municipalities.
The total tax and fee payment is automatically generated after input based on the reported information in the form. The form is then electronically sent to the port authority, possibly in PDF format with a signature.
The form must be sent no later than departure from a Greenlandic port, etc. to the local port authority. By sending the electronic form to the port authority, the ship's master, broker, or agent approves the automatically calculated tax and fee requests.
The tax and fee become due for payment upon the ship's departure from the port, after which the payment deadline is 14 days.
The possibility of agreeing on another settlement method regarding the port fee with the Tax Authority continues for ships operating on one or more ports. Thus, the current administratively simplified settlement arrangement can continue for selected ships.
The port authority's final reporting and payment date for monthly port fees for ships on regular routes coincides with the date mentioned above, i.e., the 15th of the following month.
Administration of Port Authority Tasks
The port authority's final deadline for reporting and payment of the month's total port and cruise passenger fees, as well as fee invoices, is the 15th of the following month."
The port authority must use the form below for monthly reporting.It can be found here