Samuel Davis, Cape York Weekly

Cape York and Torres Strait residents will fork out more for essential services after northern Australia’s largest shipping company announced it was increasing the cost to ship freight to remote communities.

Sea Swift has announced a 14.5 per cent hike for cargo shipments, starting next month.

New CEO Dwayne Freeman blamed the pandemic for the price hit for customers.

“It’s no secret that right now businesses across the country are facing increased cost pressures,” Mr Freeman said.

“We continue to experience rising costs in labour and maintenance.

“While we are proud to have maintained regular services to remote communities across northern Australia during this difficult period, we are certainly aware that to continue our level of service we need to make changes to our pricing structure.

“Unfortunately, we have now reached a point where freight charges do not cover the cost of supporting our freight network.” Daily household items will cost more as a result, Mr Freeman said.

“Our estimate is that this will mean an increase of approximately 11 cents on the average cost of transporting a litre of milk, four cents on a loaf of bread, six cents on a kilogram of flour, and 11 cents on a kilogram of potatoes to remote island communities,” he said.

“In line with our ongoing commitment to connecting northern Australia, this price change will help us to ensure the continuation of safe and reliable scheduled freight services to remote and coastal communities now and into the future.”

This article appeared in Cape York Weekly, 16 August 2022.