Shippers and forwarders operating in Pakistan that can’t move their boxes because of floods are facing detention & demurrage (D&D) bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars as shipping lines refuse to waive the fees.
One forwarder, Mohammed Tahir, said: “We face massive losses due to the flood – our consignments did not reach our warehouse on time and the goods became out of season, then we faced heavy D&D charges.”
Another forwarder shared email correspondence that revealed South Korea’s HMM has refused a waiver on more than $40,000 of D&D charges, without offering a reason. Taiwan’s Yang Ming is due in excess of $100,000 and did not bother to respond to the forwarder’s request for a waiver. OOCL offered to waive up to 30% of the $35,000 it is charging, but it still leaves the total owed by a single forwarder to around $163,000 for an estimated 150 to 200 containers caught in the floods.
Read more in an article from The Loadstar.