Maersk doubling fees for canceled, rolled cargo

Penalties hiked for outbound cargo from China booked on the shipping line’s portal.    Maersk Line said it is increasing both the fee charged shippers that book outbound cargo from China on its online computer portal ship.maerskline.com and then cancel the shipment as well as the penalty it pays shippers if cargo it has accepted is not loaded as booked. The company emphasized the charge only applies to a small slice of its customers, shippers that are based in China and use the ship.maerskline.com portal.
   Maersk started up the computer portal for shipments from China to selected destinations in the fourth quarter of last year.
   Both the cancellation fee and penalty are currently $50 for a 20-foot container and $100 for a 40-foot container. After May 27, the cancellation fee and penalty will be increased to $100 and $200, respectively.
   “The purpose of this offer is to increase the reliability of your supply chain and reduce the waste you experience if your cargo is rolled,” the company said.
   In April, Maersk said it was expanding the scope of the computer platform so that it will include customers exporting from ports of Shanghai, Ningbo and Qingdao to all Mediterranean destinations, expanding from the current three northern China ports (Qingdao, Xingang and Dalian) to West Africa, South Africa and the east coast of South America.