Maersk to waive detention, demurrage fees stemming from Petya attack

Meanwhile, the world’s largest ocean carrier also says that it is now up-to-date on short-term quotes, is progressing on issuing invoices and that its delivery process for imports is operational.

   The world’s biggest container line, Maersk Line A/S, is waiving demurrage and detention fees accrued by customers during the period when a system outage caused by the Petya cyber attack impacted its ability to release cargo, the company said in a statement Wednesday.
   In most places, this period covers June 27 through July 9, but there may be local variations based on when the containers were made available for import release, Maersk said.
   In related news, the company said it is also now fully up-to-date on short-term quotations requested by customers.
   “As previously advised, we honor all rates communicated and have retroactively reflected those agreements for the shipments in our custody,” the company said in a prepared statement.
   The company said it’s also progressing on issuing invoices, and that customers are able to see their invoices on My.Maerskline.com under the MyFinance tab starting, Thurs. July 13, but that due to local variances occurring, the distribution of invoices would take place over the next few coming days.
   Additionally, Maersk says its delivery process for imports continues to be operational, but the company has acknowledged that the experience is slow in some locations due to manual processing.
   “We are working hard on improving within this week as we switch to automated solutions,” the company said in its statement. “We acknowledge that where progress is being made, you may still encounter delays in response time and feel reluctant to return your full booking volumes with us. Rest assured that no one feels more committed to alleviate your concerns, and we are diligently working through backlogs and manual processes to be able to serve you effectively again.”
   Maersk’s IT and communications infrastructure was seriously impacted and then shut down as a security measure as a result of the Petya cybersecurity attack in late June.
   On June 30, the company petitioned the Federal Maritime Commission to ask for a 20-day respite from service contract filing rules. In its petition, Maersk Line stated that the Petya virus severely impaired its information systems such that it isn’t able to determine which service contracts and/or service contract rates are scheduled to expire in late June or in early July.