The Federal Maritime Commission has once again rejected requests by CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, and Zim to waive the 30-day waiting period for implementing emergency fuel surcharges following the Iran conflict.
In the opinion of the FMC, ocean carriers had clear visibility that war risk could increase fuel costs before locking in their 2026 positions. In response to the latest filing by Maersk, the FMC wrote that the world’s second-largest container carrier failed to show good cause under statutory requirements for the request.
In an interview with FreighWaves, FMC Chair Laura DiBella outlinesd that while she was empathetic to carriers’ needs to absorb costs, shippers are facing the same concerns, and liners should have been better prepared. “It’s not that this started out of nowhere. There was an awareness that this was coming and that there was, potentially, a conflict arising,” she said.
IAM Member Impact: Shippers with locked contracts get 30 days to plan with shipping lines obliged to absorb the cost in the meantime. Increases in rates will follow the post-notice window.
Source: FreightWaves