MSC adds piracy and Suez surcharges

From 15 September, MSC will levy a Piracy Risk Surcharge of $55 per TEU and a Suez Canal Surcharge of $36 per TEU on cargo shipped from Asia to a range of ports in the eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. Together, the charges add $91 per TEU, or $182 for a standard 40-foot container, before other applicable freight charges and surcharges are taken into account.

MSC said the measure was prompted by the security situation and piracy risk around the Arabian Peninsula, which continues to affect vessel operations and transit routes. The charges will remain in place until further notice.

On 24 August, the carrier said that, following a review of security and operational conditions, it would return a limited number of East-West services to the Suez route. These include selected Asia–Mediterranean, Asia–Northern Europe and India–Mediterranean sailings.

MSC stressed that the return would take place service by service and that contingency arrangements would remain available if security conditions deteriorated again.

The use of a specific “piracy risk” surcharge also comes against the backdrop of a genuine revival in pirate activity around Somalia and the Gulf of Aden.

In July, the International Maritime Organization said it had recorded 24 attempted or actual incidents of piracy and armed robbery in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the previous three months. At the time, 44 seafarers were being held on three vessels hijacked between April and May off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

Source: trans.info