Shipment delays at Saudi ports: how to avoid storage fees

Why are shipments held or delayed at Saudi ports?

A shipment is usually delayed at the port for procedural reasons you can anticipate before it arrives. The main ones are missing or mismatched documents, an incomplete regulatory approval, errors in the declared data, and late payment. These are the causes you are most likely to face in practice:

• Missing or mismatched documents: The customs framework requires the invoice and bill of lading to be attached when the customs declaration is filed, along with a certificate of origin where required and any certificates the competent authorities require for the type of goods. If the weight, quantity, value or importer name differs between documents, customs will ask for additional proof.
• Incomplete regulatory approval: The Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) announced that, from 1 October 2025, suppliers must issue a shipment certificate (شهادة الإرسالية) through the SABER platform before the customs declaration is filed. This applies to all products, whether or not they are covered by technical regulations. Other goods may need permits or health certificates.
• Incorrect HS code or value: If inspection shows a difference from the declaration, duties are calculated on the inspection result, and customs may also collect penalties where applicable. Read our guide to HS classification and the customs tariff before choosing the code.
• Unpaid charges: Goods are released only after customs procedures are completed and duties and taxes are paid. Release against guarantees is possible under conditions set by customs.
• Selection for inspection: Shipments are inspected after the declaration is registered, based on risk criteria. Inspection takes extra time.
• No authorization: The customs declaration is filed by the importer or someone the importer authorizes. If the customs broker has not been formally authorized by the importer, it cannot file the declaration in the importer's name.
• Goods that do not match the declaration: Any difference in type, quantity or description stops release until the situation is corrected.
• Late delivery order or advance filing: The delivery order is created electronically by the shipping agent in the SANAM seaport system and depends on the shipping line's procedures. Advance filing of the declaration also became mandatory for goods arriving by sea from 29 October 2025. Penalties for breaching these rules range from SAR 500 to SAR 1,000, imposed on the importer or the shipping agent.

How does risk-based customs inspection work?

Inspection means examining the goods in full or in part, by a customs officer or with X-ray equipment, or checking them on the documents. Its purpose is to verify the type, origin, quantity and value of the goods and whether they match the customs declaration. It takes place after the declaration is registered, according to risk criteria set by the authority.

The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) does not publish its selection criteria, so nobody can promise you will avoid inspection. What you control is how quickly the inspection goes. The advance filing rules state that ZATCA may release goods automatically and immediately, or after arrival once it has verified that they match the declaration, according to its approved risk criteria. In practice, the following helps:

• Make the declaration match your documents word for word. ZATCA may amend the declaration on its own initiative if it differs from the attached documents.
• Correct any error before the declaration is referred for inspection. An amendment requires a request and ZATCA's approval, and is only possible before referral.
• If you want to attend the inspection, submit a request. If you do not attend at the scheduled time, ZATCA may carry out the inspection and record the result in a report.
• Provide a qualified technician when filing the declaration if the shipment is of a special or sensitive nature.
• Do not open seals or locks without permission. Moving the goods, opening packages and repacking them are at the owner's expense.

If customs cannot confirm the contents of the declaration by examination or from the documents, it may suspend the inspection and request proof. Based on risk criteria, ZATCA may also request additional documents before release, including the original purchase invoice and bank payment documents. Keep them ready.

What is the difference between port storage charges (ardiyat) and shipping line demurrage and detention?

Storage charges (which many people call ardiyat, الأرضيات) are charged by the port or terminal operator when cargo or a container stays in its yards after the free time ends. Demurrage and detention are charged by the shipping line under its tariff and the contract of carriage. They are separate charges, and their clocks may run at the same time.

Free time is the period during which no charge applies. Each charge has its own free time and calculation method, and free time usually starts from the date the cargo is discharged. The rules in Mawani's published schedule state that storage charges are calculated by type of cargo and per unit (ton or container) for each day or part of a day, with public holidays excluded from some periods.

Illustrative example with hypothetical figures, not an actual tariff: if the free time is 5 days, you collect the container on day 8, and the hypothetical charge is SAR 100 per day, the cost is 3 days × 100 = SAR 300. Every extra day means another charge, even if the problem is a single missing document.

Where can you check the official storage rules?

The main reference is the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani), which publishes its "Port Services Fees and Charges" schedule on its website in its published version (3rd edition), with a separate section on storage charges. This version is undated and its provisions have been amended by later circulars, so use it to understand how the fees are structured, not to calculate the cost of your shipment.

To get current figures, do the following:

1. Check the news center on the Mawani website, mawani.gov.sa, where changes to free-time periods are announced.
2. Ask your customs broker for the tariff of the terminal where your shipment will be discharged. Container terminals are run under contracts with operating companies, which may have their own fee schedules.
3. Ask the shipping line's agent for its written demurrage and detention tariff and the number of free days in the bill of lading.

On the customs side, the Public Auctions Rules published on ZATCA's website state that goods are considered abandoned after 15 days for goods of a special nature (such as medicines, living organisms and agricultural products) and 30 days for other goods, counted from the date they are discharged in the customs area. The Governor may change these periods. In other words, a shipment left unprocessed can eventually be sold at auction. Confirm the period in force before relying on it.

Causes and prevention: a quick reference table

Each cause of delay has a specific preventive step you can take before the shipment arrives. The table below summarizes them.

Checklist: what to do before shipment, during the voyage and on arrival

The best way to avoid delay charges is to organize the work in three stages, so the paperwork is finished before the container reaches the quay.

Before shipment

• Identify the HS code and regulatory restrictions for your goods, and check SABER requirements by searching by HS code. See SABER certificate and certificate of conformity.
• Agree with your supplier on matching details in the invoice and packing list, and ask them to issue the shipment certificate before shipment.
• Issue the authorization to your customs broker, and review the documents required for import.
• Ask about the free time and the storage, demurrage and detention tariffs for your shipping line and port of arrival.
• Estimate the total cost with the duty and tax calculator.

During the voyage

• Send copies of the documents to your broker as soon as the bill of lading is issued. Advance clearance requires the goods to have been shipped, the documents to be attached and the data to be registered.
• Make sure the shipping agent has submitted the cargo manifest. Under the rules, this is due at least 72 hours before the vessel arrives for distant ports and 24 hours for nearby ports.
• File the customs declaration after you are notified that the manifest has been submitted, and no later than the actual arrival.
• Arrange payment or guarantees, and track the vessel's arrival date.

On arrival

• Follow up daily with your broker on the status of the declaration and the inspection and its schedule.
• Make sure the delivery order is ready and a carrier is booked to collect the container as soon as it is released.
• Collect the container and return it empty to the designated location within the free time.

What should you do if your shipment is held, and what should you ask your customs broker?

If your shipment is held, the first step is to find out who is holding it and why. The fix differs depending on whether it is customs, a regulatory authority, the shipping line or the terminal.

1. Ask your broker for the customs declaration number and its current status, and check it on the FASAH platform.
2. Pinpoint exactly what is missing: a document, a certificate, a payment, an inspection or a delivery order.
3. Ask about alternatives. If a document cannot be produced, clearance may be completed against a cash or bank guarantee or a written undertaking to provide it, for a period of no more than 90 days from registration of the declaration.
4. Ask for a written schedule of the charges building up each day, so you can weigh the cost of waiting against the cost of fixing the problem.
5. Keep a record of all correspondence, and send any requested documents immediately.

Questions to ask your customs broker:

• What is the declaration number and status, and which authority needs action from me?
• Does the declaration match the documents? Does it need to be amended before it is referred for inspection?
• When does the free time end at the port and with the shipping line, and what is the charge after that?
• Has the delivery order been issued? If not, what do you need from me?
• Is an inspection required, and do I need to attend or provide a qualified technician?
• What is the estimated cost if the shipment stays another week?

Frequently asked questions