Maersk imposes charges due to reefer box shortage

Maersk imposes charges due to reefer box shortage    Facing a “severe shortage of reefer containers during the reefer season,” Maersk has announced general rate increases and reefer charges on several trades.
   On April 15 it said it will impose a $150 increase on 40-foot high-cube reefer boxes moving from the United States to the Far East (Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam).
   The company said the reefer problem has been aggravated by severe winter conditions in Russia and political turmoil in the Middle East that have “significantly increased the turn time of our reefer equipment, thus reducing our ability to deploy empty units. This condition has impacted all carriers, especially in Latin America.
   Maersk said to ensure a steady flow of containers on the East Coast of South America, it would implement a $500 per 40-foot reefer box “emergency reefer equipment surcharge,” effective April 1, on cargo moving from the east coast of South America anywhere in the world.
   Maersk's other announced rate increases, effective April 15, are:
   ' A $200-per-TEU charge from the East Coast of Australia to Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines).
   ' A $150-per-TEU charge from the Far East to West Africa (Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde Island, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Western Sahara).