Guidance

Rye Harbour: navigation charges 2024 to 2025

Updated 29 April 2024

Applies to England

1. Harbour fees for commercial boats

Boats used for the moving of cargo will pay fees per cargo tonne landed or loaded. The cost per tonne is £0.28 per week.

Boats that are docked for reasons such as laying up, repairs, bunkering, stores, crew change, fresh water, mobilisation or demobilisation will be charged £4 per metre (length all over) per day.

2. Harbour fees for other boats

Type of boat	Daily fee	Monthly fee	Annual fee
Canoe, kayak and sail board	£1	Not available	£30
Leisure craft and fishing vessel	Not available	£12.23 per metre	£25 per metre
Dinghy with no engine	Not available	Not available	£50

3. Short term mooring fees

For vessels using Harbour Authority visitor moorings at Strand Quay or Visitor Jetty.

Short term mooring is not allowed at Simmons Quay.

Size of boat	Daily fee
Under 10 metres	£20
10 metres and over	£25

These fees include harbour dues and VAT.

Exemptions from harbour dues and mooring fees apply for:

• tenders clearly identified as a tender to a boat already paying dues
• boats of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), Marine Management Organisation (MMO), Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA)
• police officers while on duty

4. Annual mooring fees

Fees that need to be paid by owners of boats using moorings under annual licence from the Harbour Authority. These fees include VAT.

Mooring location	Annual fee (per metre)
Rye Harbour Road Moorings	£125
Simmons Quay and Admiralty Jetty	£125
Strand Quay Moorings	£125

Multi-hulled boats, except registered fishing boats, will need to pay 1.5 times the standard mooring fees.

Fishing boats moored at Simmons Quay will need to pay a fee equivalent to a 10 metre boat.

A fish hut costs £1300 per year.

5. Slipway fees

Slipway launching fees include harbour dues and VAT:

• fee per day is £14
• fee per year is £145

If the slipway is used for maintenance or careening:

• fee for the first day is £35 (plus £20 each day after the first day)

This fee may be waived in cases of emergency repairs. Apply to the Harbour Master.

6. Use of facilities fees

If using the harbour facilities the costs are:

• electricity is £0.34 per unit
• harbour staff are £150 per hour
• containers, admiralty, jetty are £300 + VAT per year

7. Pilotage fees

The following fees apply for pilotage:

• pilotage (per act) costs £40 per 0.5 metre draft plus £1.73 per metre over 45 metres
• attendance of a pilot during swinging or shifting (other than arrival or departure) costs £300
• baulk tide - cancellation or failure to arrive or depart at given estimated time of arrival costs £300

8. Cargo fees

Product	Fee per ton of cargo
Marine dredged aggregates ballast and sand	£0.40
Rock, stone and roadstone	£0.32
Salt and other mineral products	£0.58
Animal and vegetable produce	£0.58
Rubber and plastics	£0.58
Chemical products	£0.58
Sawn timber (per cubic metre)	£0.42
Other wood products	£0.58
Textiles and clothing	£0.58
Cement and glass	£0.58
Iron, steel and metals	£1.20

9. Port services

The cost to hire a boat is £300 + VAT for each use.

The cost to hire linesmen is £100 + VAT for each use.

10. Terms and conditions

For the purposes of harbour, mooring and goods fees:

• a day is a 24 hour period
• a week is a period of 7 consecutive days
• a month is a calendar month
• a year is the period between 1 April in any year and 31 March in the following year
• ‘per metre’ is per metre (or part thereof) of overall length including bumkin or bowsprit if shipped
• a fishing boat is a boat of whatever size and in whatever way propelled which is for the time being exclusively employed in sea fishing or in the sea fishing service (not a boat that is used solely or mainly for the purpose of sea angling for pleasure)

1. All payment terms are to be agreed in advance.
2. VAT is chargeable on all dues and fees, but dues relating to the carriage of cargo are zero-rated.
3. All charges are shown exclusive of VAT except where indicated
4. Harbour dues for cargo vessels are calculated on the cargo tonnage that is to be landed or loaded and is charged per week whether the vessel is loaded, part loaded or empty.
5. No refund is made for a part of a year for annual harbour dues or mooring fees.
6. Failure to notify the harbour office of arrival or departing the harbour without paying harbour charges will be construed as an attempt to evade the payment of harbour charges.
7. All boats are to comply with the European Port Waste Reception Regulations; you are advised that a percentage of the Mooring Fee covers the waste collection charges.
8. Application for and acceptance of a mooring, berth, shed or other facility, is at the discretion of the Harbour Master and implies the acceptance of the rate of charge currently in force and of the conditions of issue including that the environment agency and its staff are indemnified against any claims arising from or in connection with such berth or facility.
9. No facility granted may be shared, assigned or sub-let without the written consent of the Harbour Master.
10. In the event of a vessel being sold or disposed of, the Harbour Master must be notified in writing.
11. The lawful orders or directions of the Duty Harbour Master must be complied with promptly.
12. All vessels must have insurance against third party claims. The policy must be for a minimum sum of £1,000,000. The policy must be issued by an insurer authorised under the financial services and Markets Act 2000.
13. The Environment Agency has the right to exercise a general lien upon any vessel and/or her gear and equipment, whilst in or upon the limits of the harbour, until such time as the monies due to the Environment Agency in respect to such vessel shall be paid.