Detention fees as high as $30,000! The two major ports postponed the collection of surcharges

After the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach announced that they would charge shipping companies "container overstay fees", the implementation date was postponed again and again. On the other hand, some cargo owners had their containers detained at the docks for a long time due to inspection, resulting in a large amount of warehouse and container rents.

Container detention generates high costs, two major ports postpone fines for detained containers

Recently, many sellers reported that containers sent to Canada were inexplicably inspected after arriving at the port, and the inspection speed was very slow. In addition, due to many factors such as severe congestion at the port, many containers have been stranded for months, and "sky-high" fees have been incurred.

A cargo owner said that the container he sent to Vancouver arrived at the Vancouver Delta container terminal late last month, but was told that he needed to undergo a random inspection and cooperate with the inspection and transfer the container to a special inspection warehouse. However, due to warehouse overflow and shipping tensions, it is not easy to transport the container to the warehouse in a short period of time, and the earliest time is around December 6.

However, this also means that before that, the containers can only be stacked at the dock, and the shipper has to bear the corresponding storage fees. It is estimated that by December 6, the total cost will be at least US$30,000 , but this is only an estimated time. If the actual waiting time is longer, the bill will inevitably be higher.

The longer the container is detained, the higher the fees will be. For the shipper, this huge fee is almost unaffordable. Therefore, in order to avoid the high container detention fees, some shippers have often abandoned their cargo at multiple ports, which may further aggravate the port congestion.

In order to ease port congestion and solve the problem of container detention, many ports have actively implemented various plans. As the two busiest ports in the United States, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach announced in late October that they would charge shipping companies for overdue container detention fees.

Following the announcement in late October that it would charge a "container overstay fee," the port authorities said last week that the number of overstayed containers at the port had decreased by 26%, so the implementation of the fee collection would be postponed to November 22. On November 22, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach announced that they had decided to postpone the implementation of the plan for the second time, and the new implementation date is tentatively set for November 29.

The Los Angeles and Long Beach port authorities said that since the announcement in October that they would charge container overstay fees, the number of stranded cargo at the ports has decreased by 33% and congestion has eased. Therefore, the collection of fees has been postponed for a second time, and the surcharge collection period and standards remain unchanged.

At the same time, according to foreign media reports, statistics from the Port of Los Angeles show that the number of containers stranded at the dock for more than 13 days has actually increased compared to before. Another industry insider said that since the announcement of the fee, the number of ships waiting to unload at the two ports has reached a new high.

“The delays have caused some cargo delays and confusion, and the delays should have been announced earlier, not after we had dispatched trucks,” said Nathan Strang, director of ocean trade management at logistics provider Flexport.

The shipping schedule is seriously delayed! Something happened to the container ship at Shekou Port

"I thought the freight was already sky-high, but who would have thought that the detention fees after the container arrived at the port would be the real sky-high price," said a seller. Since the beginning of this year, the logistics costs have been unpredictable and the shipping schedules have been erratic, which has made many sellers anxious. But recently, the sellers' headaches have reappeared.

On the evening of November 17, a container ship named WANHAI 288 (Yuanchun) under Wan Hai had a serious collision with a bulk carrier "AMC NAVIGATOR" in Hong Kong waters, causing serious damage to the bow of WANHAI 288. The ship was forced to interrupt its voyage and remain at anchor, and subsequent shipping schedules will face serious delays.

It is reported that the WANHAI 288 ship was built in 2021, flying the Singapore flag. It was launched for the first time on August 4 this year. It currently mainly serves the Southeast Asian route KSS. The collision occurred while the ship was on its way from Singapore to Hong Kong.

Shipping data showed that the vessel had called at China's Shekou Port on October 28. The ports originally planned to be called at were Port Klang, Penang and Pasir Gudang in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia . Freight forwarders and cargo owners carrying goods on this ship need to pay close attention to the vessel's movements, maintain good communication with the shipping company, and be prepared for serious delays in shipping schedules.

According to news on November 21, the ship has berthed at the Hong Kong International Container Terminal and may be sent to a Taiwan shipyard for repairs. Wan Hai Lines said that considering the changing market environment and port conditions in recent years, in order to follow the market and provide better services to customers, it chose to flexibly dispatch new ships on the Asia-Pacific routes, and WANHAI 288 is one of the ships that replaced the leased ships.

Currently, the Southeast Asian market is in the peak shipping season. For many cargo owners and freight forwarding companies, the ship collision is not good news. Earlier, the media reported that Southeast Asian shipping may usher in a wave of price increases. After this ship accident, it will withdraw from the market in the short term, which is likely to make the Southeast Asian market, which is already under tight shipping capacity, even worse.

When the ports in Europe and America are seriously congested, many shipping companies have shifted their price market to Southeast Asia routes. Industry insiders said that due to the cancellation of many flights in Southeast Asia and the reduction of space, the shipping costs of Southeast Asia routes have risen by 20%.

It is reported that many shipping companies have issued price increase statements. According to the statements issued by the shipping companies, an important reason for the sharp increase in Southeast Asian freight rates is that large ships have gone to Europe and the United States, which has led to a shortage of ships and a sharp increase in container prices. The current booking price has increased by 100% compared with the same year, so the ocean freight will be increased by 100/cubic meter. The shipping company also stated that it expects a large price fluctuation in the near future and hopes that customers will consult the price in advance before shipping.

"The freight rate for the European and American routes is about 10 times that of the Southeast Asian routes, but the sailing time is only about 4 times that of the Southeast Asian routes, so shipping companies have adjusted their ships to the European and American routes," said a seller.

Regarding the price increase, many industry insiders said that it was crazy and Southeast Asia had been plundered. "Shipping companies have directly raised prices, but this is not the end. We can only sell the goods that have not been loaded in the warehouse at the old price. If we sell these goods at yesterday's price, we can't even keep the cost of the goods," said a freight forwarder.

Congestion at multiple ports , shipping delays , and rising freight rates are common . Under such circumstances , sellers who have shipping plans in the near future can prepare in advance, choose a variety of shipping methods according to their own needs, reduce logistics costs, and pay attention to logistics information in a timely manner to avoid high costs.

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