Singapore: Maersk and 13 other container carriers plan to levy an "emergency revenue charge" on the transpacific next year to pare losses.
Members of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement have adopted a voluntary guideline of $320 per 20-foot container from Jan. 15 until new contracts for the year come into effect, the group of container lines said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The charge for a 40-foot box is $400, it said.
"Many shippers face the stress of an economy that is still a long way from recovery," Ron Widdows, chairman of the group and head of Singapore's NOL, said in the statement. "They will be left with some very tough choices that involve either moving even more aggressively to individually consolidate or reduce the number of services now offered, or incur further losses that in the longer term are simply not sustainable."
The emergency revenue charge is an interim measure, distinct from a previously announced general rate increase of $800 per 40-foot container for West Coast port-to-port and local cargo, the statement said.
Other members of the group include China Shipping Container Lines Ltd., Cosco Container Lines Ltd., CMA CGM, Neptune Orient Lines Ltd.'s APL Ltd., Hapag-Lloyd AG, Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., and Nippon Yusen K.K. [17/12/09]
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