MSC adds surcharge for cargo bound for Venezuela

“The ongoing political volatility” spurs the Mediterranean Shipping Company to apply a premium surcharge of $150 for 20-foot containers and $300 for 40-foot containers.

   Mediterranean Shipping Company announced last week it is applying a war risk premium surcharge on cargo with destinations into Venezuela “amid the imposition of sanctions” and “the ongoing political volatility in that country.”
   MSC (USA) has filed and will implement surcharges of $150 on 20-foot containers and $300 on 40-foot containers applicable to every shipment from the U.S. to Puerto Cabello and La Guaira in-gated on or after July 4 “regardless of time of sailing,” Irene Villegas Diego, assistant manager of export traffic Latin America, told American Shipper Monday via email.
   Diego said she does not have a final date for when the surcharge will no longer be applicable and the company “will have to monitor market/political conditions to determine that.”
   Hamburg Süd and King Ocean Services added a surcharge of $1,200 per container leaving the U.S. to Venezuela after May 15, Reuters reported.
   In May, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry announced additional oversight of exports to Venezuela that may pose a national security threat.