THE CMA CGM Group has halved one contingency fee levied on shippers on its NEMO service between Australia and Europe, effective immediately.
The charge was amongst more than a dozen introduced on various CMA CGM trades forced to divert away from Red Sea transits following increasing security risks arising from the Israel/Hamas conflict.
In the case of NEMO, vessels were then forced to begin – and still are – sailing around the Cape of Good Hope instead of through the Mediterranean and Suez Canal, adding to voyage time/distance and requiring an additional ship to maintain the weekly schedule.
On 20 December 2023 a contingency fee of US$1550 per container (TEU and FEU, dry and reefer) was introduced for all NEMO sailings in both directions.
As of 26 April this was updated to US$775 per TEU and 1550 per FEU for cargo from Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa to Australia.
Meanwhile, the NEMO vessel APL New York has been stranded at VICT in Melbourne for several days, having arrived at 1800 on 24 April but is still on the berth this afternoon [30 April]. DCN had been unable to establish the cause of the delay at time of publication.
Separately, in the USA CMA CGM has become the latest carrier to have charges filed against it with the Federal Maritime Commission alleging unfair detention and demurrage charges.
Californian haulier Access One Transport is claiming US$77,000 plus damages alleging violations of the Shipping Act between April 2021 and June 2022, when it was charged for empty containers it was prevented from returning to the line’s designated terminals.
