Caribbean/Europe carriers introduce reefer peak season charge

Caribbean/Europe carriers introduce reefer peak season charge    The Association of West India Trans-Atlantic Steam Ship Lines, a liner conference in liner trade between Europe, at one end, and the Caribbean, Central America, Venezuela and Colombia, at the other end, said that it will introduce an eastbound peak season charge of $250 per container on reefer shipments, effective from Jan. 1 to April 30, 2004.
   “The increasing volumes of reefer cargoes destined to Europe far exceed the westbound reefer trade,” the conference said. This imbalance is “particularly extreme” during the first four months of the year, when carriers have to position empty equipment to serve the demands of the eastbound trade, the carrier group added.