When customers export containerized goods from China to foreign countries, they must be very careful to comply with the so-called rules of the game of these liner companies. Only in accordance with these rules of the game, can customers avoid being charged with an additional fee. If the rules accidentally violated, bills will follow one by one. These bills are like thorns, deeply stinging the nerves of international freight forwarders.
Just today, I also received the demurrage fee issued by Maersk as follows.
The departure port of the container mentioned in the bill above is Shanghai, and the destination port Valencia Spain.
4 containers, each one is overdue for 1 day, and the total cost is 4*200=800RMB. Upon receipt of this bill, we need to check why it will result in a one-day overdue fee.
The form on the bill shows from Jan. 16th to Jan. 23rd, so the total is 8 days. As per Maersk, 7 days free of charge should be given at the port of departure, so the one-day demurrage fee is charged. The starting date of Jan. 16th is for container pickup, of which the operation is under our control. And the charge end date of Jan. 23 should be the price calculation date, i.e. ETD date. How can we identify the correctness of this ETD date? The original SO issued by the shipper Maersk shall be checked as below:
Maersk regulation is quoted as following:
The rates and other applicable charges on your shipment will be invoiced based on Price Calculation Date (PCD)
For Non-FMC shipments, PCD is the Estimated Time of Departure (ETD) of the first vessel in the latest booking confirmation issued upon customer request.
For FMC shipments, PCD is the date on which Maersk Line A/S or one of its authorized agent(s) takes possession of the last container listed on the transport document.
Note: FMC regulated trades are shipments exiting or entering a port in the United States, Guam, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa or Puerto Rico(US).
Clearly the SO shows that the ETD is Jan. 23, from which we should have calculate the pickup date for containers, which should have not be earlier.
Of course, there is also a way to prevent the demurrage in advance, that is, to apply to Maersk for more than 7 days. If the application is approved, the earliest safe packing time can be moved forward accordingly. However, Maersk generally does not approve such application unless for VIP customers who have a lot of goods shipped through Maersk.
If you use our freight forwarder service,we surely help you to not charged by such stupid demurrage fees from lines.
