Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) announced a new tariff for calculating container demurrage, detention, and per diem effective December 5, 2015 for all U.S. ports.

  • Demurrage is defined as the free time that the carrier and terminal provide for a container once it discharges the vessel or arrives at the inland rail dept.
  • Detention is also applied at the terminal or rail depot, and at a higher rate, once the demurrage period has completed.
  • Per diem, by comparison, covers the free time allotted to a container outside of the time it is in the terminal or rail depot.

For specific number of free days given, and the rates associated with the demurrage, detention, or per diem read the full MSC Demurrage/Detention/Per Diem announcement.

New tariff changes will apply to both import and export containers equally.  Prior to the change, MSC’s demurrage and detention arrangements varied by port and terminal throughout the country, while the new tariff will replace inconsistent policies with a standard-level applied throughout the country.

One major change is the termination of the so-called “multi-container rule” that was in effect at certain ports, like Baltimore.  In the past, an importer was allotted additional free time at the terminal, per vessel, based on meeting container volume thresholds.  This policy will no longer be practiced.

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