US Importers Urged to ‘Proactively’ Challenge Demurrage Charges
We, in the logistics industry, have already seen the immediate effects of the Coronavirus to international shipping. With China being the first to experience the Covid-19 pandemic, the U.S saw an immediate slow down of imports. Now that the disease has made its way to the United States, we are experiencing the effects even more with many businesses being forced to close shop until the spread of the virus slows down. This is posing a serious problem when it comes to inbound ocean containers that were already on the water when the pandemic began. Many containers are arriving into ports but have nowhere to go as the receiving facilities are closed until further notice. As you will see in the JOC article below, BCO's are being urged to contest demurrage and detention charges with the steamship lines as blank sailings will cause a rash of penalties if it remains difficult to return empty containers to marine terminals. Recent reports are indicating that China will be increasing prod