Hapag-Lloyd to implement booking cancellation fee

Following similar announcements by Maersk Line and CMA CGM, the German ocean carrier will begin charging a $60 fee for all cancelled bookings between Singapore and India, effective June 9.    German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd has implemented a booking cancellation fee for export shipments from Singapore to India at $60 per cancellation starting June 9.
   All bookings cancelled within three days prior to vessel arrival will be subject to the fee, the ocean carrier said in a statement.
   Hapag-Lloyd is the latest carrier to introduce a cancellation fee, only a few weeks after French line CMA CGM announced a similar fee that applies to shipments from North Europe to the Red Sea, Middle East, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
   Implemented June 1, CMA CGM’s fees will cost shippers $150 per TEU for cancelled or transferred bookings seven days or less prior to the vessel cut-off date.
   Danish carrier Maersk Line also instituted a similar booking cancellation fee in April, from North Europe to the Red Sea, Middle East, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Effective April 10, the $135 fee applies to bookings called seven days or less prior to vessel departure.
   According to Maersk Line, the fee was imposed due to “strong demand for exports in corridors from North Europe to Middle East, Red Sea and IPBS region, and a significant amount of bookings cancelled shortly before cargo cut off, which leads to inability to accept bookings from other interested customers.”
   Implementing booking cancellation fees has not been so easy in the past, but if all goes well, Hapag-Lloyd could extend cancellation fees in regions beyond Singapore and India.