Maersk Line in January will introduce shipping surcharges of $30-160/container to offset assumed higher fuel costs stemming from stricter emissions regulations on ships traveling within 200 miles of North American and European shores.
Next year, ships traveling within 200 miles of shore in North America and the Baltic and North seas must limit sulfur emissions from fuel to 0.1%, down from 1%, according to International Maritime Organization rules.
Shippers have said their fuel costs will rise and they are passing those higher costs onto their customers. Maersk said its fuel costs will rise by $200 million/year.
“We believe that a separate surcharge will provide better transparency to our customers on the additional costs arising from the new environmental requirements than if we had integrated the costs into our existing bunker surcharge, as previously communicated,” Maersk said Monday. The company originally announced the surcharges in July.
Maersk’s move to detail the surcharges follows a similar one by the world’s second-largest shipping line, Mediterranean Shipping Company, which outlined its ECA-related surcharges in September.
Three other shippers — Hapag-Lloyd, Rickmers-Linie and Orient Overseas Container Line — have said they will implement surcharges but have yet to detail the costs.
Source: Platts
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