Demurrage and detention charges imposed on shippers by containers lines have soared at unprecedented rates globally over the last year, according to the Demurrage & Detention Benchmark 2021 report published by Container xChange, the world’s leading online platform for the leasing and trading of shipping containers.
Across the world’s 20 largest container ports, the report found that average Demurrage and Detention (D&D) fees levied by container lines on customers two weeks after a box was discharged from the vessel more than doubled across ports and shipping lines between March 2020 and March 2021, climbing 104% or the equivalent of $666 per container across all container types.
None of the world’s top 20 ports by throughput saw a decrease in D&D fees over the period.
“In the US, the Federal Maritime Commission is now looking into the practices of the container shipping industry and searching for ways to ensure that container users, many of whom feel they have been charged unfairly by carriers for D&D, can be refunded,” said Dr Johannes Schlingmeier, CEO & Founder of the container leasing and trading platform. “Certainly, D&D rates have been accelerating, adding to the burden on shippers and industry on top of record container rates and global container shortages.”
D&D charges do not just vary by port, they also vary by shipping line within each port. At the port of Los Angeles, which has been central to the chaos evident on the trans-Pacific container trade over the past year, average D&D charges increased by +142,7% from March 2020 to March 2021. CMA CGM’s D&D rates increased the most, up 167% over the period. Maersk was a close second, with its customers seeing a 161% increase in D&D charges.
By contrast, COSCO, unlike the other carriers in the Port of Los Angeles, lowered its average D&D fees by 15% over the period from $1417 in March last year to 2020 to $1213 in March 2021.